Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 16,604 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 5.8% in Q1, selling 16,604 shares and leaving the fund with 268,114 shares, which represent about 1.0% of their portfolio.
• Deere recently reported $4.75 earnings per share, beating analyst expectations, although its revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share, which translates to an annualized rate of $6.48 and a yield of 1.3%.

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,114 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,604 shares during the quarter. Deere & Company makes up 1.0% of Gabelli Funds LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.10% of Deere & Company worth $125,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,063,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,355,546,000 after purchasing an additional 185,671 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Deere & Company by 4.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,876,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,227,258,000 after purchasing an additional 286,253 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,915,729 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,235,394,000 after purchasing an additional 330,915 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,780,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $754,500,000 after acquiring an additional 48,941 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 61,215.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $822,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750,163 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DE shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Melius Research raised shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $491.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $523.87.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $12.76 on Friday, hitting $478.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,357,721. The business has a 50 day moving average of $505.87 and a 200 day moving average of $491.08. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $376.95 and a 52-week high of $533.78. The company has a market cap of $129.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

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

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 33.87%.

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.