Eastern Bank Sells 58 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Eastern Bank lessened its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Centennial Bank AR lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 5.3 %

DE opened at $430.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on DE shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $443.94.

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.