Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Bought by Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 34.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,881 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,270 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 0.7% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.7% in the first quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,050 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on DE shares. Raymond James began coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $414.11.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE traded down $1.84 on Friday, reaching $381.85. 1,670,316 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,536,021. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $417.46. The stock has a market cap of $105.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $369.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $380.35.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.09 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.