Allstate Corp Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,287,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,168,737,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $913,334,000 after purchasing an additional 160,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,473,000 after purchasing an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Baird R W cut 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 shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

Insider Activity

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $477.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $439.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $126.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.72%.

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.