Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT trimmed its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 173,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,844 shares during the period. Deere & Company makes up about 1.2% of Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $64,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,967,000 after purchasing an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,937,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Deere & Company by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $802,037,000 after acquiring an additional 279,627 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.88.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $397.91 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $417.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $373.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.