Xponance Inc. Cuts Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,688 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $17,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% during the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 100,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,004,000 after buying an additional 2,662 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 17,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,740,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 42.0% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, Interchange Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 30.0% during the third quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $765.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday. Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of DE stock opened at $629.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $537.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.59.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Deere & Company

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.