Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank reduced its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,637 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $51,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

DE opened at $452.06 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $122.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $470.23 and its 200-day moving average is $444.28. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DE. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 target price (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $480.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $459.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.