Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Deere & Company worth $77,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $296,232,000. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after acquiring an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 52,200.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 530,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,920,000 after acquiring an additional 529,833 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE DE opened at $466.64 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $432.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $126.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors 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 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

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.