Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $166,937,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after purchasing an additional 279,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after purchasing an additional 263,709 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:DE opened at $405.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $417.46. The company has a market cap of $111.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $376.24 and a two-hundred day simple 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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company’s revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. 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 is presently 17.70%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DE. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer reduced 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.88.

Deere & 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.