Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Position Decreased by Aspiriant LLC

Aspiriant LLC reduced its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $166,937,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $802,037,000 after acquiring an additional 279,627 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 28,306.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 249,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 249,097 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on DE shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $408.73 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $393.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $385.53. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $420.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.03 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

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.