Excalibur Management Corp Acquires 49 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DE. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE DE opened at $479.70 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $475.21 and its 200-day moving average is $438.25.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.