Aspen Investment Management Inc Sells 35 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Aspen Investment Management Inc lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE DE opened at $496.28 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05. The company has a market capitalization of $135.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $451.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.65.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.