Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $477.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $471.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $435.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The company has a market cap of $129.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Deere & Company 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.