Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $367.57 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $276.94 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $362.14. The company has a market cap of $177.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Caterpillar by 15.0% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 6,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $10,955,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the second quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 5,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.