Sei Investments Co. Reduces Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,915 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $68,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $471.90 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $473.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $436.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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, topping 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 research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In related 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 value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.