Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 1,917 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company makes up approximately 1.0% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE traded up $7.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $394.78. The stock had a trading volume of 952,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,147. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $389.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.55 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

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.