Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from an underperform rating to an in-line rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $365.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $381.67.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $374.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar has a one year low of $276.94 and a one year high of $418.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $380.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.26. The company has a market capitalization of $180.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 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.