Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 16,990 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 55.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,990 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 target price (down from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One 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 MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $479.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $477.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $438.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.19 billion, a PE 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 28.72%.

Deere & 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.