Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

DE has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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, UBS Group lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.22.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $465.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $126.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $457.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.33. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,244,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after buying an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $541,437,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Deere & Company by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,792,082,000 after buying an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,364,843,000 after buying an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.