State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,604 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,376 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $40,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $546.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Deere & Company stock traded down $12.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $496.28. 1,514,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,476,719. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The company has a market capitalization of $135.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's fifty day moving average is $449.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.37.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.