Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 56.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at $710,000. Hixon Zuercher LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $405.71 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $420.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $402.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $385.56.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America upped 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

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.