Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in Deere & Company by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Melius Research upgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $513.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $515.19.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $524.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $468.95.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.53 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.