Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Price Target Raised to $555.00

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) had its target price increased by Oppenheimer from $513.00 to $555.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $480.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $504.38.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $531.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $468.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.02. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 78,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,165,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,021,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $847,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,127,000. 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.