Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $888,000 Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 99.8% in the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,694,000 after buying an additional 3,223 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $1,052,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $24,984,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 90,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $400.42 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $420.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $400.85 and a 200-day moving average of $385.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.69.

About Deere & Company

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.