Bayforest Capital Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bayforest Capital Ltd lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 29.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 235.2% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 7,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 12,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,714,000. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 115.6% during the 1st quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 29,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,947,000 after acquiring an additional 16,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $460.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $515.50.

Deere & Company Stock Up 3.2%

DE stock opened at $524.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.11. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $533.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $486.52.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.53 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.