Advantage Trust Co Sells 125 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Advantage Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Advantage Trust Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $489.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $452.07 and a 200-day moving average of $420.91. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DE. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.65.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.