Smith Moore & CO. Has $818,000 Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Baird R W cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $430.25 on Friday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $476.55 and a 200 day moving average of $441.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

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.