Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Sold by First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown trimmed its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.6 %

DE opened at $509.54 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05. 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 PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $449.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $419.37.

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

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

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.