Summit Securities Group LLC Invests $127,000 in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $1,244,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,232,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 52,200.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 530,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,920,000 after purchasing an additional 529,833 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $148,359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus set a $510.00 target price on Deere & Company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of 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, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $126.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G 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’s fifty day moving average is $477.28 and its 200 day moving average is $439.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date 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.