Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Trims Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DE. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Centennial Bank AR raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. 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 report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Trading Up 4.0 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $456.57 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $431.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $402.25. The company has a market capitalization of $124.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $469.39. 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 (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

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