Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires 851 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $470.22 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $445.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.46. The firm has a market cap of $128.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $446.17.

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.