Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Now Covered by Citigroup

Analysts at Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.03% from the company’s previous close.

CAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

CAT opened at $327.51 on Wednesday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a market cap of $160.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.07.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,296,641,000 after purchasing an additional 129,216 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,583,372,000 after purchasing an additional 96,479 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,408,481,000 after purchasing an additional 179,908 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $1,660,560,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.