Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Stake Boosted by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 383,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,531 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Deere & Company worth $162,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 13,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,745,000 after buying an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its position in Deere & Company by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 27,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,839,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Deere & Company by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 14,142 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Deere & Company by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 77,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on DE shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $454.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded down $5.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $489.98. 1,102,183 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,465,614. 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 $451.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $419.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $133.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a positive change from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.