American Trust Lowers Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

American Trust reduced its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,441 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $672.00 to $607.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $680.00 price objective (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $759.00 to $812.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.23.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of DE stock traded down $5.54 on Friday, reaching $587.36. 782,098 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,174,307. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $566.99.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Key Deere & Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Deere & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: D.A. Davidson’s new coverage on AGCO highlighted that weak farm conditions can still support equipment makers like Deere, reinforcing the view that replacement demand and pricing power may hold up better than expected for agricultural OEMs. Farming Is Terrible Right Now. That’s Good for Deere and AGCO Stocks.
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer was upbeat on Deere, calling the stock “incredible” and suggesting it still has room to go higher, which may help sentiment around the shares. Jim Cramer on Deere & Company: “The Stock Is Incredible, and It’s Not Done Going Higher”
• Neutral Sentiment: An analyst report on Deere was published, but no clear thesis or rating details were provided in the feed, so it is likely a limited near-term catalyst. Analyst Report: Deere & Co
• Negative Sentiment: Deere settled a right-to-repair dispute with the FTC, requiring it to provide farmers and independent repair providers the same repair resources as authorized dealers for 10 years. Investors may see this as a hit to Deere’s control over service revenue and after-sales economics. Deere settles right to repair dispute with FTC

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.