Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives $297.89 Average PT from Brokerages

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $301.94.

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $363.91 on Tuesday. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.74. The firm has a market cap of $181.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.33 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the first quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.1% in the first quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.