Van ECK Associates Corp Cuts Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 210,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,567 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $84,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,767,000 after buying an additional 269,571 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,155,430,000 after purchasing an additional 73,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,539,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $581,052,000 after buying an additional 33,946 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,146,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,561,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE DE traded down $7.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $393.20. 234,486 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,450,162. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $388.66 and its 200-day moving average is $383.65.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.55 EPS. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

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.