Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $490.95 and last traded at $491.97, with a volume of 298658 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $480.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on DE. Citigroup raised their target price on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Trading Down 2.6 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $449.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.37. 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 market capitalization of $135.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.3 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.