Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Deere & Company $DE

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 79.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,296 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 7,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,675,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eukles Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 2,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DE. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $638.08.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.6%

DE stock opened at $542.34 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $572.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $542.07. The company has a market capitalization of $146.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $433.00 and a 12 month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.