Forsta AP Fonden Sells 7,900 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 10.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $24,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,248,036,000. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after buying an additional 705,771 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $166,937,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $388.59 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $417.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $370.53 and a 200-day moving average of $381.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 17.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.