By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Free Report) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $454.00 to $471.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.
A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CAT. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $375.63.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Caterpillar
Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0 %
Caterpillar stock opened at $360.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $173.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $390.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $361.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Caterpillar Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.
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