Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $504.38.

DE has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $513.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Deere & Company by 40.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,399 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,044,000 after buying an additional 6,118 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $101,526,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 57.3% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $758,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 3.0%

Deere & Company stock opened at $531.79 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $468.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $533.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

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.

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