Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DE. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 1,180.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.1 %

DE opened at $376.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $353.15 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $386.34 and a 200-day moving average of $387.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $456.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $431.14.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.