Granite Investment Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $19,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,364,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,247,216,000 after buying an additional 97,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $913,334,000 after acquiring an additional 160,956 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 valued at $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 3.5 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $459.75 on Friday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $470.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $443.29. 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 issued 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 net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.