Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $9,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Deere & Company by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 364,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $185,143,000 after purchasing an additional 85,351 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 84.9% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.0% during the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,615,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,550,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,578 shares of company stock worth $32,471,682. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.7%

DE opened at $602.54 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $510.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $487.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $404.42 and a fifty-two week high of $626.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 20.54% and a net margin of 11.00%.The firm had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $542.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.20.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.