Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Gap Down to $410.84

Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $410.84, but opened at $402.59. Deere & Company shares last traded at $402.01, with a volume of 267,885 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $510.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $493.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $459.90.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $115.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $417.81 and a 200 day moving average of $398.87.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. The company had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 46.15% and a net margin of 16.36%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 33.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total value of $22,035,331.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,398,598.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total value of $22,035,331.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,398,598.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 4,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.75, for a total value of $2,104,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,444,209.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 98,818.3% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 15,922,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,451,792,000 after acquiring an additional 15,906,784 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 41,880.9% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,703,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,814,000 after purchasing an additional 5,689,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,890,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,975,565,000 after purchasing an additional 83,329 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Deere & Company by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,576,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,962,085,000 after buying an additional 554,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 9.5% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,393,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,871,000 after buying an additional 381,506 shares during the period. 66.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.