Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Earns “Buy” Rating from DA Davidson

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $580.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.86% from the company’s previous close.

DE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $543.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $512.00 to $531.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on Deere & Company from $565.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Deere & Company from $510.00 to $440.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.45.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $7.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $472.07. 639,522 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,374,973. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $127.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $467.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $490.48. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $403.01 and a 12 month high of $533.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.The firm had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 11,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total value of $5,553,888.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 112,453 shares in the company, valued at $56,235,496.24. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 18.3% in the first quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 124,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,241,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 185,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,911,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 17.3% in the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.