Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,580 shares during the quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd raised its stake in Deere & Company by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 3.0% during the second quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC now owns 564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 24.7% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DE. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $765.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $612.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.70.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $592.69 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $404.42 and a 1 year high of $674.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.09 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $557.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $501.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.