Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 65.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,251 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DE stock traded up $4.86 on Friday, hitting $386.55. 1,377,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,501,447. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.01. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.93 and a one year high of $441.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $372.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DE shares. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 target price on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $426.71.

Deere & Company 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.