Allianz SE Purchases New Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Allianz SE acquired a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 17,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,622,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 3.0 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $439.39. 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 quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

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, 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 payout ratio is 28.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DE. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Argus set a $510.00 target price on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.