Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 28.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,542 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,480,725 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $592,098,000 after acquiring an additional 149,980 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded up $3.92 on Friday, reaching $385.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,413,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,736. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $367.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $379.81. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $423.35.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $414.11.

Deere & 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.

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