Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 43 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $446.98 on Friday. 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 has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $477.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $441.54. The company has a market capitalization of $121.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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. Baird R W downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

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.