Citigroup Cuts Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target to $320.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $430.00 to $320.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on CAT. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $373.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE CAT opened at $288.56 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $335.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $367.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the first quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 3,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 3,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.