Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 511,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 793 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $234,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,578,243,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 573.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 842,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $428,597,000 after purchasing an additional 717,808 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 50,691.9% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 332,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,910,000 after purchasing an additional 331,525 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,376,279,000 after purchasing an additional 309,081 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Deere & Company by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,386,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $704,930,000 after buying an additional 292,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DE. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $467.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $631.04 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $170.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $541.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $496.45.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

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.