Advisory Alpha LLC Trims Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 94.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 708 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,332 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 25,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,691,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 9.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 61,215.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $822,781,000 after buying an additional 1,750,163 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 11.3% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,368,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $515.19.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded up $6.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $513.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,107,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,995. The stock has a market cap of $139.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.74. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $533.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.