Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $537.26 and last traded at $523.3630, with a volume of 342032 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $525.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DE. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $512.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Deere & Company from $440.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $543.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Deere & Company from $609.00 to $612.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.20.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $142.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $485.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $482.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. The firm had revenue of $12.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 35.01%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,578 shares of company stock worth $32,471,682. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,514,053,000 after acquiring an additional 198,332 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after buying an additional 322,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,810,807,000 after buying an additional 111,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,578,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

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.