Bank of Stockton Increases Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bank of Stockton boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,602,000 after purchasing an additional 852,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 46,892.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 770,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:DE opened at $496.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market capitalization of $135.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $419.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.