Martin Currie Ltd. Acquires 853 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Martin Currie Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 53.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DE. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $127,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 339,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,787,000 after acquiring an additional 50,327 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $7,622,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $3,287,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, 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 $477.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $439.76. 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 (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 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%. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 target price (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

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.