Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 2,129 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Royal Fund Management LLC cut its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,129 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Deere & Company by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 364,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,143,000 after purchasing an additional 85,351 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 24,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,204,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 84.9% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,402,000 after buying an additional 3,416 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.0% in the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,615,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $525.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $460.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, November 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Deere & Company from $440.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.20.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE DE opened at $514.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $479.23 and its 200 day moving average is $481.47. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $533.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 64,578 shares of company stock valued at $32,471,682 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.