Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Now Covered by Analysts at Raymond James

Equities research analysts at Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) in a report issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $327.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $340.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 12.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 47,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,024,000 after purchasing an additional 5,317 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.3% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $4,357,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,168,000 after purchasing an additional 71,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.4% during the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 18,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,981,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.