Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Purchased by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $20,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.2 %

DE stock opened at $488.69 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $462.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $430.99. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05. The company has a market cap of $132.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus set a $510.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.