Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 28.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,556,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 613,040 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $659,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 230,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,258,000 after buying an additional 63,380 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 22.7% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 2,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 6.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 56,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,699,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 79,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,169,000 after acquiring an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $430.25 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $476.55 and its 200 day moving average is $442.38. The company has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.51%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.