Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,767,000 after purchasing an additional 269,571 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 104,373.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,380,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,801 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,326,177,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Deere & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,155,430,000 after buying an additional 73,601 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $400.32. 1,125,406 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,289,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $385.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.97. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The company has a market cap of $111.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Melius downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

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.