Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lessened its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $489.98 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $452.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $420.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.98. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s 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.