Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.7% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $349.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 609,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,220. The business has a fifty day moving average of $380.20 and a 200 day moving average of $385.79. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.93 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $96.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.56 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company 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 sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.66.

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.