Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Trading Up 2.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s stock price shot up 2.3% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $285.00 to $295.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Caterpillar traded as high as $386.07 and last traded at $385.12. 443,980 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 2,609,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $376.52.

CAT has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $358.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,128 shares of company stock worth $2,506,748. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $372.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $351.45. The company has a market capitalization of $186.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.