Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 1,517 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $246,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 100,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,779,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 11.5% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 4,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,681,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 125.1% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $466.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $465.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $432.18. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The company has a market cap of $126.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on DE. Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Deere & Company

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.