Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Bought by Founders Financial Alliance LLC

Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. UBS Group boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. One research 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 Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $475.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $463.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $431.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. 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 quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 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.