Amundi Sells 269,299 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Amundi reduced its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,165,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 269,299 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $478,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 675.3% in the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 31,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 27,530 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $847,000. Finally, Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $266,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:DE opened at $499.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $135.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $461.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $429.83. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on 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, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.22.

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.