Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 6,500 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lowered its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $17,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 12.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $484,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 10.2% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $489.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $452.07 and its 200 day moving average is $421.43. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DE. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 target price (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.