Alesco Advisors LLC Sells 110 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Alesco Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Essex Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $393.34. 998,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,472,866. The company has a market cap of $109.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $387.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.61. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.37 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

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.