Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives $384.33 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $384.33.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $351.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $382.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.41. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.