Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $360.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at HSBC from $330.00 to $360.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. HSBC’s target price points to a potential upside of 7.05% from the stock’s previous close.

CAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of CAT traded down $13.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $336.29. 1,399,747 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,478,419. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $350.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.75. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The stock has a market cap of $167.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,296,641,000 after buying an additional 129,216 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,583,372,000 after purchasing an additional 96,479 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,408,481,000 after purchasing an additional 179,908 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the period. 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.