Spinnaker Trust Buys 154 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Spinnaker Trust lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:DE opened at $480.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $485.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $446.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $415.49.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $448.72.

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.