Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Position Trimmed by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,722 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 7.8% during the second quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 7.0% during the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Deere & Company by 5.9% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,939,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 35.0% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.88.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $405.89 on Friday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $417.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $111.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $376.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $382.77.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.20 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.