Motco Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Motco cut its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DE. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DE opened at $480.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $456.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

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.