AGF Management Ltd. Invests $12.42 Million in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 29,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,421,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $475.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $463.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $431.66. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio 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.