Alberta Investment Management Corp Invests $5.94 Million in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 14,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,938,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $509.54 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $449.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $138.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 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.