Wendell David Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Wendell David Associates Inc. cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Centennial Bank AR boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $459.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $469.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $433.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $403.91. The stock has a market cap of $125.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

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

Deere & Company 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.