Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Position Lifted by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.42% of Deere & Company worth $2,792,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its stake in Deere & Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 78,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value 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 trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $454.86 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $468.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $445.27. The company has a market capitalization of $123.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.21.

Deere & Company 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.