First Citizens Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Citizens Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,168,737,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,254,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $842,259,000 after purchasing an additional 60,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after buying an additional 279,627 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $3.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $421.22. The stock had a trading volume of 255,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,582. The company has a market cap of $114.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $469.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $427.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $398.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on DE. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $443.94.

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.