State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,838,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70,343 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises about 1.1% of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,298,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 7.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 7.3% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,247,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 113.3% during the 2nd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 1,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $515.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $631.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $170.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $541.08 and a 200 day moving average of $496.45.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The business had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

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.