Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Trillium Asset Management LLC

Trillium Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 22.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,203 shares during the quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $12,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.2% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter worth about $14,541,000. Retirement Income Solutions Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $229,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.4% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 114,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,496,000 after buying an additional 27,985 shares during the last quarter. 66.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan D. Campbell sold 6,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.19, for a total value of $2,302,820.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,022,219.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $381.24. The company had a trading volume of 166,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,546,379. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The company has a market capitalization of $109.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $383.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $394.25.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. The business had revenue of $14.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 46.15%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $422.50 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $551.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $530.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (down from $530.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $447.93.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes 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 mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, 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.