Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Down 12.9% in March

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,346,333 shares, a drop of 12.9% from the February 26th total of 4,991,541 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,279,668 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE opened at $555.26 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $674.19. The firm has a market cap of $149.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $580.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $510.41.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 36.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,715,633,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,592,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,465,906,000 after buying an additional 3,358,264 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1,725.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,003,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $932,870,000 after buying an additional 1,893,972 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1,199.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,864,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $868,149,000 after buying an additional 1,721,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 573.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 842,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $428,597,000 after buying an additional 717,808 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $765.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Deere & Company from $467.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Deere & Company from $612.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.70.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.