Trust Investment Advisors Invests $1.58 Million in Deere & Company $DE

Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,578,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Deere & Company by 30.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 364,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,143,000 after buying an additional 85,351 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,615,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,550,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 66.1% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 27,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,606,000 after purchasing an additional 10,974 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Evercore reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $644.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $574.55 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $568.12 and its 200-day moving average is $504.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

About Deere & Company

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.