Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Trims Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,920,548,000 after buying an additional 65,006 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,650,767,000 after acquiring an additional 269,571 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,539,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $581,052,000 after purchasing an additional 33,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its position in Deere & Company by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,146,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,561,000 after purchasing an additional 12,825 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $395.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $390.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $383.84. The firm has a market cap of $110.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.55 EPS. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid 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 yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

Deere & Company 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.