Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 91,547 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $42,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 42.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 1st quarter worth $469,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 91.5% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 30.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $521.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $480.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.10. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $533.78. The firm has a market cap of $141.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $515.19.

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.