Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 264.7% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $397.01 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $385.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.66. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $110.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.55 EPS. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price objective on the stock. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

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.