William Schaupp Sells 1,200 Shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) CAO William Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at $757,047.06. This trade represents a 47.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $569.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,738,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,746. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $486.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $266.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $729.00 price target (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1,060.0% in the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.