Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $13,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $405.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $376.24 and a 200-day moving average of $382.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $417.46.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.88.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.