Y.D. More Investments Ltd Acquires New Shares in Deere & Company $DE

Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,734,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, United Community Bank grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 92 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $675.00 to $625.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.95.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $575.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $584.72 and a 200-day moving average of $513.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

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

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.