Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Reduces Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,364,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,395 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,247,216,000 after buying an additional 97,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $913,334,000 after acquiring an additional 160,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.26.

Deere & Company Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:DE opened at $459.75 on Monday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $470.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $443.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

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.