IFP Advisors Inc Sells 605 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

IFP Advisors Inc reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 605 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $484.24 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $452.99 and its 200-day moving average is $422.92. The company has a market capitalization of $131.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DE. UBS Group boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.65.

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.