Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Sells 28,356 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,356 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises 1.7% of Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $62,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $471.49 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $464.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.94. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $127.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.