Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.2 %

DE stock opened at $489.98 on Monday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $452.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

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.