Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Short Interest Update

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,880,000 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the November 15th total of 9,760,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $380.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,035,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,553,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $270.55 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $392.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $360.62. The company has a market cap of $183.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $374.69.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $209,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $800,000. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $225,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $3,132,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 443,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,644,000 after purchasing an additional 55,448 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.