Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,877,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,501 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.03% of Deere & Company worth $9,269,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Deere & Company by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.1 %

DE opened at $471.90 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $473.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $436.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

About Deere & Company

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.