Fayez Sarofim & Co Increases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 3,380.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 331,132 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.13% of Deere & Company worth $147,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Argus set a $510.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.89.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $452.06 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $469.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $444.97. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

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, 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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