American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 17,446 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 284,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,446 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.10% of Deere & Company worth $120,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Plancorp LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 24,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,218,000 after acquiring an additional 7,498 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,989,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DE. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 price objective on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.1 %

DE stock opened at $471.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $436.88. The company has a market capitalization of $128.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $515.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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.