Victrix Investment Advisors Takes $346,000 Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. StockNews.com raised shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Deere & Company from $513.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus set a $510.00 target price on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $504.38.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $531.79 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $468.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.02. 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 company has a market cap of $144.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $533.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

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.