Aviva PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,860 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Deere & Company worth $66,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 price target (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $430.25 on Friday. 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 $116.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $515.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $476.55 and a 200 day moving average of $442.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released 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, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.72%.

Deere & Company 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.