Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.1%, selling 2,047 shares during the 1st quarter and now owns 5,518 shares worth approximately $2.59 million.
• Despite the decrease in shares by some investors, other institutions like Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased their holdings by 58.9% during the same quarter, indicating mixed sentiment among institutional investors.
• Deere & Company reported strong earnings with $6.64 EPS for the quarter, surpassing expectations, while also announcing a $1.62 quarterly dividend to be paid on August 8th.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 27.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,518 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,047 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,792,082,000 after buying an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,566,884,000 after purchasing an additional 157,224 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,364,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,395 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.9% in the 4th 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, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 12.8% in the 4th 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 period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Melius upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $515.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE traded down $6.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $510.87. 824,654 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,344,335. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $513.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $484.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $138.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.08.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. Deere & Company's revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.