Ritholtz Wealth Management Reduces Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 587 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accel Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 6,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,767,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $525,000. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 5,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 8,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of DE traded up $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $410.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,421,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,840. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $380.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $381.52. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.41 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $431.69.

About Deere & Company

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.