Fiduciary Group LLC Has $1.69 Million Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fiduciary Group LLC grew its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after buying an additional 1,782,984 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $296,232,000. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 52,200.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 530,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,920,000 after buying an additional 529,833 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:DE opened at $479.73 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $470.64 and its 200-day moving average is $435.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The firm has a market cap of $130.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

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.