Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 749,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110,838 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $317,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE DE opened at $466.64 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $432.18. The stock has a market cap of $126.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05. 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 (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.