Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $361.64.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $293.82 on Friday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $327.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $363.98.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after buying an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.