Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $339.94.

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,272.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,668 shares of company stock worth $2,665,760 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of CAT opened at $390.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $191.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $397.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $346.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.48.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.91 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.