DDD Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

DDD Partners LLC lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. DDD Partners LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 53,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,776 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 135,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,775,000 after purchasing an additional 7,182 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,322,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 6.9% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,284,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at about $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DE. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.69.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $409.23 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $379.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $381.32. The company has a market cap of $113.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.12%.

Deere & 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.