Martin Currie Ltd. Buys 853 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Martin Currie Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised 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 buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $477.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $126.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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 1.39%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DE. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company 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 directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.