Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 224 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,248,036,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 46,241.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 840,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,142,000 after purchasing an additional 838,813 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after buying an additional 705,771 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,595,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $638,167,000 after buying an additional 160,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,481,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $592,391,000 after buying an additional 150,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $456.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James began coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.66.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE traded down $2.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $362.79. The stock had a trading volume of 667,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,055. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $383.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $386.94. The firm has a market cap of $99.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. Deere & Company has a one year low of $353.15 and a one year high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.65 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.59 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.