Fiduciary Alliance LLC Purchases Shares of 1,447 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after acquiring an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 20.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its position in Deere & Company by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $443.94.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $430.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.45. The company has a market cap of $117.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 22.97%.

About Deere & Company

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.