Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Acquires 149 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DE. Essex Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of DE stock traded up $3.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $400.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,562,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,501,047. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $382.66. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earned $6.55 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

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.