Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Acquires 10,359 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Deere by 393.6% in Q3, adding 10,359 shares to hold 12,991 shares valued at about $5.94 million.
• Company insiders executed large sales: Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares (~$6.12M) and CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares (~$20.8M), reducing insider ownership to 0.29%.
• Deere topped expectations in the quarter with $2.42 EPS vs. $1.90 estimated and $9.61B revenue (up 17.5% YoY), and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62 ($6.48 annual, 1.1% yield).

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 393.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,991 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 10,359 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 69.2% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. United Community Bank grew its position in Deere & Company by 67.3% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 92 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Lynch Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $600.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $554.55 and a 200-day moving average of $500.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $404.42 and a 12 month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. Deere & Company's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Deere & Company from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Deere & Company from $612.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $644.70.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company's principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.