Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Insider Rajesh Kalathur Sells 24,580 Shares

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $496.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $135.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

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 return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.3 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.65.

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.