US Bancorp DE Trims Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,362 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $114,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 5.0% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 11.1% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.5% during the third quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 11.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 379,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,259,000 after purchasing an additional 37,500 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $480.25 on Friday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $456.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $130.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.