Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 819 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 20.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 27.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 857.9% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 6,855 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $2,783,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $400.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $383.66 and a 200-day moving average of $385.15. The company has a market cap of $110.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $420.47.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.20 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DE. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $410.50.

About Deere & Company

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.