Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company accounts for approximately 1.2% of Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Centennial Bank AR raised its stake in Deere & Company by 420.0% during the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock traded down $4.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $418.02. 1,072,368 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 852,436. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $469.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $398.82. The company has a market cap of $113.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.