LGT Group Foundation Acquires 27 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake 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 worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.22.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $465.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $457.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $427.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. 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 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

About Deere & Company

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.