Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 18,567 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,567 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Deere & Company worth $84,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,322,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.9% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,284,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,640,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 483.3% during the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,604,000 after buying an additional 14,500 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $7.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $393.20. The company had a trading volume of 234,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,450,162. The stock has a market cap of $109.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $388.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.65. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.12%.

About Deere & Company

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.