Realta Investment Advisors Buys Shares of 2,056 Deere & Company $DE

Realta Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,056 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DE. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 364,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,143,000 after purchasing an additional 85,351 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,402,000 after buying an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,615,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth $4,550,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its position in Deere & Company by 66.1% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 27,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,606,000 after buying an additional 10,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $675.00 to $625.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $575.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $584.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $512.97. The company has a market capitalization of $155.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.