Narwhal Capital Management Sells 377 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Narwhal Capital Management lowered its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 7,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,581,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $478.90 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $438.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $406.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $479.48.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $442.83.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.