Investors Buy Large Volume of Deere & Company Call Options (NYSE:DE)

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 8,393 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average volume of 6,198 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,068,404,000 after buying an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,895,518,000 after acquiring an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $356,602,000 after purchasing an additional 852,885 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 770,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $442.83.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $4.18 on Friday, hitting $478.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,400,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,406,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $436.95 and a 200-day moving average of $404.80. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $479.48. The company has a market capitalization of $130.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.26 earnings per share. Deere & Company's revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.34 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.