Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup increased their target price on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.0 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $342.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $367.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $373.10. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $163.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,704 shares of company stock worth $7,226,584 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $1,359,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $346,000. Armis Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $549,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 59,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,409,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 5,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.