Westerkirk Capital Inc. Decreases Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Westerkirk Capital Inc. decreased its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 53.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,216 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,153,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $672.00 to $607.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.8%

DE opened at $578.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $572.93 and a 200 day moving average of $547.52. The company has a market cap of $156.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.