Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 160,956 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 160,956 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $913,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 5.0% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.1% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during the third quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 11.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 379,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,259,000 after buying an additional 37,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $480.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $456.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.63. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company 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.