DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $350.00 to $357.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target suggests a potential downside of 1.13% from the company’s current price.

CAT has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $379.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $361.09. 700,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,290,021. The business’s fifty day moving average is $380.88 and its 200 day moving average is $371.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,236 shares of company stock worth $12,102,371 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 334.8% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently 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.