WoodTrust Financial Corp Has $6.82 Million Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

WoodTrust Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Deere & Company accounts for about 1.0% of WoodTrust Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $6,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 worth $3,068,404,000 after buying an additional 1,782,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $2,168,737,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,155,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $913,334,000 after purchasing an additional 160,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Deere & Company by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,063,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $874,473,000 after purchasing an additional 107,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $458.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $458.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.89. The company has a market capitalization of $124.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.22.

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.