Horizon Investments LLC Buys 124 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 11.5% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $221,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $1,476,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 29.0% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 17,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after acquiring an additional 3,973 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $136,936,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $481.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $130.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $469.24 and a 200-day moving average of $435.01. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

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 transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.