J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 28,765 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,765 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $45,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 148.3% in 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. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 78,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,165,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,021,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DE. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $480.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $452.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $469.77 and its 200 day moving average is $444.97. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. 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 (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.