Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE Sells 24 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on DE shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Baird R W downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 3.8 %

DE stock opened at $430.25 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $476.55 and a 200-day moving average of $442.38. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The company has a market capitalization of $116.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Deere & 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.