Deere & Company $DE Shares Acquired by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 278.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 487,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,005,000 after purchasing an additional 358,687 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $829,930,000 after purchasing an additional 323,512 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after purchasing an additional 322,582 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the third quarter worth $143,519,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 71.4% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $242,834,000 after buying an additional 221,456 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:DE opened at $575.49 on Monday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $404.42 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The firm has a market cap of $155.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $584.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.28.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.Deere & Company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.95.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.