Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Cuts Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth 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 Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $484.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $452.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced 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 net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer upped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.65.

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.