Montag A & Associates Inc. Increases Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 104.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,012 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $4,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $448.72.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $480.17 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $485.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $446.95 and its 200-day moving average is $416.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its 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 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Deere & 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.