Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Short Interest Update

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,590,000 shares, a drop of 10.3% from the October 15th total of 11,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 16.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock valued at $9,251,912. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Second Line Capital LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.7% during the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.8% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 165,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Finally, Chiron Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $681,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $382.33. 1,772,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,605,664. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $241.81 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $382.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $354.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.