16,900 Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by Willis Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Willis Investment Counsel cut its Deere & Company stake by 49.4% in the third quarter, selling 16,900 shares and retaining 17,300 shares valued at approximately $11.6 million.
• Deere shares rose 1.1% to $634.16, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $5.10 per share and revenue of $12.61 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $688.10 price target; Deere also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share.

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,900 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $11,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at $11,763,504,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 84.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,088,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,959,209,000 after buying an additional 1,412,694 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at $1,685,093,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $1,259,279,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $957,456,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE DE traded up $7.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $634.16. The company had a trading volume of 394,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,358,301. The firm's 50 day moving average is $658.42 and its 200 day moving average is $612.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $454.50 and a fifty-two week high of $721.22. The company has a market capitalization of $170.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.86.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The industrial products company reported $5.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.69 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $12.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.81 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 10.16%. The company's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DE. Nomura upgraded shares of Deere & Company to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Evercore raised shares of Deere & Company from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $813.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $680.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Sunday, September 13th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $812.00 to $804.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 24th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $688.10.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, founded by blacksmith John Deere in 1837, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction, forestry and turf-care equipment. The company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and operates under the John Deere brand.

Its products include tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesting equipment, loaders, excavators, motor graders, forestry machines, mowers and compact utility equipment. Deere also provides replacement parts, equipment support, financing and technology-enabled solutions designed to improve machine productivity, automation and precision in farming and other industries.

Deere serves customers through dealerships and operations across North America, Latin America, Europe and other international markets.

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