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 released on Thursday.

CAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $360.75 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $382.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $365.00. The company has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS increased its position in Caterpillar by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 2,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 3,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.