Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $460.00 at Citigroup

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $435.00 to $460.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.20% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $374.69.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $4.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $399.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,059,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,560,855. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $259.12 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $392.84 and its 200-day moving average is $359.18.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.