Kovack Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,322,000 after buying an additional 5,485 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,284,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,640,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 483.3% during the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,604,000 after acquiring an additional 14,500 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $400.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $345.55 and a twelve month high of $450.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $388.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.65.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.55 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

About Deere & Company

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.