Northeast Investment Management Sells 1,003 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Northeast Investment Management cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,003 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,553 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 7.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $755,385,000 after purchasing an additional 115,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Deere & Company by 7.1% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 145,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on DE shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $631.45 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $433.00 and a one year high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $573.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $556.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

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.