Hills Bank & Trust Co Sells 289 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co trimmed its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $407.86. 859,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,439,569. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $394.82 and its 200-day moving average is $384.55.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.