Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Boosts Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DE. DRW Securities LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 388.3% during the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 376,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $157,414,000 after purchasing an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 15,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W cut Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of DE stock opened at $479.70 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $475.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $438.25. The stock has a market cap of $130.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its 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 net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.