Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Sells 219 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings 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 worth $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $456.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $124.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $430.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $401.33. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.26 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $442.83.

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.