DA Davidson Has Lowered Expectations for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at DA Davidson from $357.00 to $325.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential upside of 10.61% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $359.36.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $293.82 on Monday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $327.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.58. 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 company has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $800,000. 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.