Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $498.13, but opened at $477.13. Deere & Company shares last traded at $481.9830, with a volume of 1,014,046 shares.

The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.55 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $602.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $566.00 to $512.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.85.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $500.08, for a total transaction of $5,553,888.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 112,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,235,496.24. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $1,578,243,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter worth $571,073,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Deere & Company by 573.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 842,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $428,597,000 after purchasing an additional 717,808 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 132.0% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 721,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $366,946,000 after purchasing an additional 410,636 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 97.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 733,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $344,442,000 after purchasing an additional 361,526 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $127.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.04.

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.