Arvest Investments Inc. Increases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Arvest Investments Inc. lifted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,479,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $477.03 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $129.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $471.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $435.61.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

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.