Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Cuts Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,376 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $10,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 34,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,449,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 6,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,562,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,539,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $913,334,000 after purchasing an additional 160,956 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. Citigroup upped 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 upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $480.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $456.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Profile

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.