Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 3,230 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $48,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,168,737,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $1,244,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $913,334,000 after acquiring an additional 160,956 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $874,473,000 after acquiring an additional 107,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded down $4.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $474.18. 495,041 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,397,344. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $477.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $441.29. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.62 dividend. 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 1.37%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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. Argus set a $510.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $460.00.

Deere & 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.