Financial Security Advisor Inc. Sells 78 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 529,833 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,832,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 105,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $480.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $456.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.69. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 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.