Whittier Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Whittier Trust Co. cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $8,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 27.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $628,105,000 after purchasing an additional 31,074 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its stake in Deere & Company by 857.9% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 6,855 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $2,783,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $3.78 on Thursday, hitting $381.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,939. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $423.35. The company has a market capitalization of $105.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $367.82 and a 200-day moving average of $379.83.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $443.00 price target (up from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $414.11.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.