Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 147 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Procyon Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 148.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $439.29 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $469.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $429.66 and a 200 day moving average of $401.06. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $119.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.