Plancorp LLC Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Plancorp LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake 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 worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $471.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $436.57. 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 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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, 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 yield of 1.37%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Deere & Company 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.