DA Davidson Has Negative Outlook for Caterpillar Q3 Earnings

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson dropped their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for Caterpillar in a report issued on Wednesday, September 3rd. DA Davidson analyst M. Shlisky now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $4.66 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.84. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $388.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $19.86 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Caterpillar’s FY2025 earnings at $17.87 EPS.

CAT has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $457.20.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7%

CAT opened at $423.09 on Thursday. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $441.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $417.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $362.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 104.6% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 51,018 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $615,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

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.