Forsta AP Fonden Sells 7,900 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 10.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $24,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.2% in the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.7% in the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Foundation Advisors increased its position in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.3 %

DE opened at $388.59 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $417.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $370.53 and its 200 day moving average is $381.10.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 17.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DE. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $414.11.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.