Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 514,219 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 24,190 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.19% of Deere & Company worth $209,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $369,019,000 after acquiring an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 20.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter worth $710,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DE traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $440.44. The company had a trading volume of 900,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,439,312. The stock has a market cap of $120.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $469.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $392.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.26 EPS. Deere & Company's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC downgraded Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $443.28.

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.