Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,746,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 606,317 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,858,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 26.2% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter worth about $113,000. Circle Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter worth about $382,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $27,961,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other 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 value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of DE stock opened at $465.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $477.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $440.12. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $126.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 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.