Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 1,833 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Deere & Company by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,833 shares and leaving it with 52,667 shares valued at $24.52 million.
• Deere beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.42 (vs. $1.90 est.) and revenue of $9.61 billion, up 17.5% year-over-year.
• Multiple brokers raised price targets (UBS to $775, RBC to $736, BofA to $672), resulting in an average analyst target of $655.45 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (16 Buys, 9 Holds).

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,833 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $24,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its stake in Deere & Company by 4.4% in the third quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC now owns 564 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 7,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $541.00 to $736.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $655.45.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $562.54 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $593.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $526.56. The company has a market capitalization of $151.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.01 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is 36.53%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company's principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.

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