Intact Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 780 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,168,737,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $913,334,000 after buying an additional 160,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,473,000 after buying an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company 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 value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $478.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $466.59 and a 200 day moving average of $432.84. The company has a market cap of $129.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 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.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Deere & 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.