Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 6,733 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its Deere position by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,733 shares and leaving it with 480,964 shares valued at about $223.9 million.
• Deere’s latest earnings beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $6.55 versus a $5.70 estimate and revenue of $13.37 billion topping forecasts; revenue also rose 5.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus, a target price of $639.58, and a newly घोषित quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share payable August 10.

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 480,964 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,733 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.18% of Deere & Company worth $223,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,153,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Deere & Company from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $752.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $639.58.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $577.05 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.69, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $573.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $548.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

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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