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

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $365.33.

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 306.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 407,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,385,000 after purchasing an additional 307,479 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth about $97,042,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $407.82 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $389.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $356.75. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $246.01 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $196.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.