Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 130,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,462,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $1,244,094,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,364,843,000 after buying an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $296,232,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 52,200.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 530,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,920,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $148,359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Baird R W cut shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.26.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $453.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $123.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. 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 has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $471.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $442.69.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 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.