Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 84,896 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 93.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 175,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,896 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $74,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on DE shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $510.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus set a $510.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $492.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $465.80 and a 200-day moving average of $450.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.72%.

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.