Verity & Verity LLC Acquires Shares of 2,595 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 411.8% in the third quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 64.3% in the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 92 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Standard Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 75.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $522.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $374.00 to $452.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 25th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.81.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:DE opened at $385.50 on Friday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $283.81 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The company has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $1.02. The business had revenue of $11.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 41.17% and a net margin of 14.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.92 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 30.58 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.80%.

Deere & Company Profile

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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.