Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $340.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price objective raised by TD Cowen from $338.00 to $340.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Caterpillar from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $316.88.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $343.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $350.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 27,495.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,168 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2,265.3% in the 3rd quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,570 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after buying an additional 781,111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.