Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Centennial Bank AR grew its position 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DE. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $463.06 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $432.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $403.19. The firm has a market cap of $126.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

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.