Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 50,327 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 339,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 50,327 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $143,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,168,737,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $913,334,000 after buying an additional 160,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

DE opened at $465.27 on Monday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $440.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on DE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.