Deere & Company $DE Shares Sold by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lessened its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 74.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,569 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,376,279,000 after purchasing an additional 309,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,297,913,000 after buying an additional 64,262 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,810,807,000 after buying an additional 111,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth approximately $1,578,243,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 10.1% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,580,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,312,020,000 after acquiring an additional 236,406 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $515.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $715.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $475.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of DE opened at $629.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a one year low of $404.42 and a one year high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $537.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.51.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.