BTC Capital Management Inc. Sells 927 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• BTC Capital Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 4.4% during the second quarter, selling 927 shares and now owning a total of 20,346 shares valued at approximately $10.3 million.
• Deere & Company reported earnings of $4.75 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but showed a 9% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62, with a payout ratio of 33.87%, to be paid on November 10th to shareholders of record as of September 30th.

BTC Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,346 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 927 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $10,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 61,215.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $822,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750,163 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth about $571,073,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 97.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 733,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $344,442,000 after acquiring an additional 361,526 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $149,057,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 4.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,876,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,227,258,000 after acquiring an additional 286,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Melius raised shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $595.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $517.27.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $470.68. 527,544 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,373,116. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $387.03 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The stock has a market cap of $127.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock's 50-day moving average is $492.45 and its 200 day moving average is $490.16.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.13. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.29 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.87%.

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.