Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Purchased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,479,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $456.57 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $469.39. The stock has a market cap of $124.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $431.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $402.53.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

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.