Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 3,232 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,232 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,179,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in Deere & Company by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Deere & Company by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,170 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded up $7.62 on Tuesday, hitting $463.06. 1,733,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,386,234. The company has a market capitalization of $126.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $432.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.19. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. Deere & Company's quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DE shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $442.83.

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.