Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Acquired by Harbour Investments Inc.

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,895,518,000 after acquiring an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $296,232,000. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 157.5% in 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 period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased 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 during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $482.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $130.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $434.34. 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 fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 1.34%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on DE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Profile

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.