Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $383.80.

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $330.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $353.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $307.05 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.