Blair William & Co. IL Sells 44,709 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 185,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 44,709 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.07% of Deere & Company worth $69,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $397.91 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $373.48 and its 200-day moving average is $382.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $417.46. The company has a market capitalization of $109.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.88.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

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.