Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 76 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 155.8% during 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 institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE:DE opened at $478.67 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $466.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $433.24. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. 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 company has a market cap of $129.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DE shares. UBS Group lifted 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. Citigroup lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

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.