Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $471.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price lifted by Truist Financial from $454.00 to $471.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CAT. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $366.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $389.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $361.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a 1 year low of $276.94 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.