OV Management LLC Buys 423 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

OV Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Deere & Company makes up 1.0% of OV Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. OV Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $1,244,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $296,232,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 52,200.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 530,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,920,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $148,359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.1 %

DE opened at $470.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $477.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.70. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.