Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives $365.33 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $365.33.

Several research firms have commented on CAT. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,749 shares of company stock valued at $9,251,912 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE CAT traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $381.44. 1,859,592 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,602,442. The firm has a market cap of $184.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $241.81 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $383.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $355.03.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.