Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Argyle Capital Management Inc.

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company comprises approximately 2.2% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,650,767,000 after buying an additional 269,571 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,155,430,000 after acquiring an additional 73,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,539,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $581,052,000 after acquiring an additional 33,946 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.1% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,146,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,561,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of DE stock traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $393.33. 998,338 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,243,125. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $387.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.52. The company has a market capitalization of $109.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.55 EPS. Research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 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.