Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Insider Sells $12,304,993.80 in Stock

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.6 %

Deere & Company stock traded up $7.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $509.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,094,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,458. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $138.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $448.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.73. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.35 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price objective 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 set a $546.00 target price (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Deere & Company by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,792,082,000 after buying an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,566,884,000 after acquiring an additional 157,224 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,364,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,247,216,000 after acquiring an additional 97,203 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

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.