Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 95.2%, selling over 18,500 shares, leaving it with only 946 shares valued at approximately $444,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on Deere’s stock; while Robert W. Baird lowered their target price to $488, Bank of America raised it to $556, indicating a general sentiment of "neutral" ratings among major firms.
• Deere & Company reported a 9% year-over-year decrease in revenue but exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $4.75 compared to the forecast of $4.62.

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 95.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 946 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,562 shares during the quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 509 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leisure Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 2,886 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,355,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $520.00 to $488.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up previously from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Melius upgraded Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $523.87.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of DE opened at $495.0920 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $374.46 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The company has a market capitalization of $134.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.13. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.87%.

About Deere & Company

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.

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