Jacobi Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% in 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 buying an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

DE stock opened at $480.25 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.