RKL Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

RKL Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 6.3% during the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 7.2% during the third quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 10.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 6,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.8% during the third quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 1,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DE. Oppenheimer lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $499.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $135.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $461.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $429.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.