Blair William & Co. IL Sells 596 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 596 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $52,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 26.2% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,925,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 126,790 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,913,000 after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the period. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 11,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $479.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $477.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $438.85. The company has a market capitalization of $130.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DE. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

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.