Fmr LLC Purchases 1,039,395 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fmr LLC grew its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,364,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in 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 and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on DE. Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Argus set a $510.00 target price on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock opened at $430.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $476.55 and a 200-day moving average of $442.09. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.