Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Stock Position Lowered by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its position in Deere & Company by 53.8% during the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Deere & Company by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.1 %

DE stock opened at $465.63 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $485.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $445.00 and its 200-day moving average is $412.86. The firm has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DE. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

About Deere & Company

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.