National Pension Service Buys 68,272 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 560,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,272 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.21% of Deere & Company worth $237,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $487.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $453.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on DE shares. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 price target (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

Deere & 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.