Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 7,917 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,836 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,917 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.09% of Deere & Company worth $99,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Deere & Company by 80.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,171 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,427,000 after purchasing an additional 4,091 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 84.8% in the second quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,589 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 68.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,642,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $7,010,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Deere & Company by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 440,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $164,408,000 after acquiring an additional 21,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.9 %

DE stock traded up $4.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $478.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,400,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,682. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $479.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $438.55 and a 200-day moving average of $405.66. The stock has a market cap of $130.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Deere & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a positive change from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $442.83.

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.