Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 2,899 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB trimmed its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,899 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $8,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,376,279,000 after buying an additional 309,081 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,297,913,000 after acquiring an additional 64,262 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,578,243,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,722,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,244,670,000 after purchasing an additional 141,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $644.70.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of DE opened at $574.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $155.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $404.42 and a fifty-two week high of $674.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $568.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $504.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 36.53%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.