Caterpillar Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 82,925 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 230% compared to the average daily volume of 25,118 call options.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CAT traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $357.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,919,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,422,963. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $345.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The stock has a market cap of $178.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterway Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,370,000 after buying an additional 52,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.56.

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.