First Manhattan CO. LLC. Cuts Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 253 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its position in Deere & Company by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $492.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $465.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $450.92. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $510.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $480.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.21.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company 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.