Opinicus Capital Inc. Sells 23 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Opinicus Capital Inc. trimmed its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises about 1.3% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its position in Deere & Company by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $465.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $445.01 and a 200 day moving average of $412.26. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $485.84. The company has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Deere & Company 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.