Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives $323.35 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $323.35.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $337.39 per share, for a total transaction of $168,695.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,296,641,000 after buying an additional 129,216 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,583,372,000 after purchasing an additional 96,479 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,408,481,000 after buying an additional 179,908 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after acquiring an additional 111,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $344.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $205.60 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The company has a market cap of $168.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $352.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.22.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 23.48%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.