Essex LLC Sells 965 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Essex LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 965 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises 1.1% of Essex LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Essex LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter worth $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $465.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $445.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $412.86. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $485.84.

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 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 company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DE. Barclays lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

Deere & 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.