Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Rating Increased to In-Line at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from an underperform rating to an in-line rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has $365.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $362.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $175.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $381.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.94. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $276.94 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.