Homestead Advisers Corp Acquires 8,100 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Homestead Advisers Corp boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 219,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,100 shares during the period. Deere & Company comprises approximately 2.2% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $92,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DE. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DE opened at $483.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $131.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $476.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $438.57.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.