Robotti Robert Buys Shares of 600 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Robotti Robert purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bornite Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,215,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 673.1% during the 1st quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.5 %

Deere & Company stock traded down $9.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $376.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,489,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,501,366. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $372.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $383.53. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.93 and a 12 month high of $441.46. The company has a market capitalization of $103.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price target on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $426.71.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.