WFA of San Diego LLC Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,475.0% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 63 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter worth $31,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, 25 LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth about $34,000. 66.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $380.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $381.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $394.36. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $345.55 and a 1 year high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The company had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 33.89 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan D. Campbell sold 6,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.19, for a total transaction of $2,302,820.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,519 shares in the company, valued at $7,022,219.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $551.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Deere & Company from $398.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $492.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $400.00 price target (down previously from $530.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $447.93.

Deere & Company Profile

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.