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

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on DE. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $454.65.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $496.28 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap 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 has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $451.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.90.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend 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 presently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DE. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% during the third quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

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.