Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,453 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $239,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. now owns 24,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 6,110 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $460.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $516.75.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock traded down $5.82 on Friday, hitting $509.83. The company had a trading volume of 850,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,410,310. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $533.78. 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 firm has a market cap of $138.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $472.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.36.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.