Ethos Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ethos Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake 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 in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake 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 worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $457.22.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $483.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $459.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.56. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The stock has a market cap of $131.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Deere & Company 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.