Convergence Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Convergence Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,602,000 after buying an additional 852,885 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after acquiring an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $148,359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DE. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $478.57 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $454.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.30. The firm has a market cap of $130.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. 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.