Leavell Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 15,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,419,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $361,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $142,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,263,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. 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 research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $446.17.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $476.53 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $445.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $414.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. 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 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for 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 was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.31%.

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.