Baird R W Downgrades Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) to Hold

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was downgraded by research analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on DE. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.22.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $465.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $126.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $457.61 and a 200 day moving average of $427.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $515.05.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its stake in Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.