Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $365.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.56% from the stock’s previous close.

CAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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 issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $381.67.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $370.79 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 12 month low of $276.94 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $179.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $381.63 and its 200-day moving average is $366.20.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the 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 owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.