Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 22.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,247,216,000 after buying an additional 97,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 8.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company 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. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.9 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $452.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The stock has a market cap of $122.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $470.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.89.

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.