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

Baird R W downgraded shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.22.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $465.37 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $457.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.33. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $515.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $184,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $149,057,000. LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $447,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $1,159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

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.