Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Sells 1,372 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,372 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,859,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,585,028,000 after acquiring an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,248,036,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,595,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $638,167,000 after buying an additional 160,369 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $443.00 price target (up previously from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $414.11.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

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

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

Deere & Company stock traded up $3.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $385.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,413,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,005. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $367.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $379.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $423.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

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.