Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 408 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $6,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $474.79 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $485.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $445.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $414.08. The company has a market cap of $129.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 25.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on DE. Citigroup reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $446.17.

Deere & Company Profile

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.