First Affirmative Financial Network Sells 126 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

First Affirmative Financial Network reduced its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,792,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,566,884,000 after purchasing an additional 157,224 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,364,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,305,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,247,216,000 after purchasing an additional 97,203 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $1,244,094,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $519.62 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $533.78. The company has a market capitalization of $140.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $479.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.95.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.53 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Melius upgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Melius Research upgraded Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $515.19.

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.