Hickory Point Bank & Trust Takes Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.5% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 1,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 4.5% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 23.1% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 14,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

DE opened at $480.25 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 company has a market capitalization of $130.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.15.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 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.