Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Trading 1.8% Higher

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $334.19 and last traded at $333.32. 750,086 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 2,653,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $162.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.04.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $337.39 per share, for a total transaction of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction 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 approximately $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $337.39 per share, for a total transaction of $168,695.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.