Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on DE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Trading Down 1.2 %

Deere & Company stock opened at $489.98 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $452.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.43.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.