Empower Advisory Group LLC Decreases Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 4.2% during Q1, owning 28,714 shares worth approximately $13.48 million post-sale.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Deere & Company, with Evercore ISI setting a new target of $493 and Truist Financial at $619, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Deere & Company reported a quarterly EPS of $6.64, exceeding estimates by $0.92, despite a 17.9% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,714 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,259 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $13,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 23.7% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 11,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 22,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,500,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $555.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $515.50.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $506.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 958,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,084. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $343.38 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $137.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $512.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $488.75.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

Deere & 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.