Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,284 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,767,000 after purchasing an additional 269,571 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 104,373.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,380,557,000 after buying an additional 3,216,801 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $1,326,177,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,155,430,000 after buying an additional 73,601 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $400.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $385.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $383.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 17.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DE. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.