Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New $15.99 Million Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 37,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,985,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 12.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,622,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $484,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Deere & Company by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $489.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $421.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & 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.