Bill Few Associates Inc. Trims Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bill Few Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the third quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $442.83.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $459.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $125.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $435.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $404.30.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued 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. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

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.