Citigroup Cuts Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Price Target to $625.00

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Citigroup from $675.00 to $625.00 in a research report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 7.63% from the company’s current price.

DE has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $765.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $467.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $644.70.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE traded down $9.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $580.71. 104,864 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,672,903. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $551.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.62. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $404.42 and a 52-week high of $674.19. The company has a market cap of $156.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were 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 $59,160,775.30. The trade was a 26.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.