Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Purchased by Polar Capital Holdings Plc

Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,763 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,408 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DE. Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Argus set a $510.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $513.00.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:DE traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $529.58. 1,272,875 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,416,205. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $534.58. The company has a market capitalization of $143.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $468.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.02.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The business's revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.