Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Holdings Lifted by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Deere & Company were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $489.98 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. The firm has a market cap of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $452.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $420.91.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

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.