Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Shares Up 0.7%

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s stock price was up 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $329.15 and last traded at $328.88. Approximately 417,466 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,657,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $326.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $159.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $341.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $328.08.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,943.82. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,296,641,000 after acquiring an additional 129,216 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,583,372,000 after buying an additional 96,479 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,408,481,000 after buying an additional 179,908 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,660,560,000. 70.98% of the stock is 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.