Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 15.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,876 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Centennial Bank AR boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 420.0% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 73.5% during the second quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $443.28.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $439.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $469.39. The company has a market cap of $120.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $419.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $392.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.97%.

Deere & Company 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.