BDF Gestion Sells 798 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

BDF Gestion cut its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 798 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 234,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,785,000 after buying an additional 10,899 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR increased its position in Deere & Company by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Creekside Partners bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $422,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,367,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:DE opened at $478.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $130.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $441.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $408.11. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $485.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

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.