Norges Bank Takes $1.24 Billion Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,936,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,244,094,000. Norges Bank owned 1.08% of Deere & Company at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Deere & Company 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 owns 74,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $501.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with 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 $460.00.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.7 %

DE stock traded up $3.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $466.81. 530,518 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,397,319. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The stock's fifty day moving average is $477.28 and its 200-day moving average is $440.12. The company has a market cap of $126.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, 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.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 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.