Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DE. UBS Group raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $471.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.72%.

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.