Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Acquires 4,097 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 277,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,097 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company comprises 2.3% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $117,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 774.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,496,000 after purchasing an additional 13,578 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 10,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,507,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of DE stock opened at $477.03 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $471.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $435.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, 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 (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company 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 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 1.36%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.