Cigna Investments Inc. New Cuts Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Cigna Investments Inc. New decreased its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,602,000 after acquiring an additional 852,885 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,218,000 after acquiring an additional 770,451 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at $166,937,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after buying an additional 279,627 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $404.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $110.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $400.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $385.50. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $420.47.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.06%.

Deere & Company 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.