John May II Sells 41,472 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Stock

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) CEO John May II sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock traded down $13.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $487.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,725,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,731. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.00. Deere & Company has a one year low of $403.01 and a one year high of $533.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $474.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.26.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 1,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 659.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 245,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,239,000 after acquiring an additional 213,049 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,436,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friday Financial grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Friday Financial now owns 2,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $488.00 to $467.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $525.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.20.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.