Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Stock Position Trimmed by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 104,373.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,380,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,801 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,326,177,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 46,241.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 840,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,142,000 after buying an additional 838,813 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,576,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,962,085,000 after acquiring an additional 554,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 561.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 531,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,379,000 after purchasing an additional 451,019 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DE. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial started coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 target price for the company. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $400.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,125,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,741. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $385.86 and a 200-day moving average of $382.97. The company has a market capitalization of $111.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

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.