DA Davidson Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by DA Davidson in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $542.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.92% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $504.38.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $531.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $468.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.67. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $340.20 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The stock has a market cap of $144.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,244,094,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 61,215.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,781,000 after buying an additional 1,750,163 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $541,437,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $571,073,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Deere & Company by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,792,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.