WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 1,267 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,602,000 after buying an additional 852,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,218,000 after buying an additional 770,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after acquiring an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of 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 upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $448.72.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $480.17 on Friday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $485.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $446.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $415.49.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.