UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 157 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 20.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DE. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,454,000. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,646,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $555.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $515.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $500.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $512.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $486.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.11. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.08.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

About Deere & Company

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.