Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 745,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34,953 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.27% of Deere & Company worth $316,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $483.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $476.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. On average, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DE. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

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.