Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $475.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a PEG 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $463.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $431.66.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.