Empirical Finance LLC Sells 134 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Empirical Finance LLC cut its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $239,000. Freestate Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Deere & Company by 301.4% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,336,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $465.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $445.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.86. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $485.84. The company has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on DE shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays raised their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $444.50.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.