Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Purchases 193 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 193 shares during the quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 3,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,562,000. LBP AM SA raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 7,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,258,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,128,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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 transaction 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 Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of DE opened at $466.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $465.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $432.18. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced 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 return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. On average, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DE. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

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.