Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17, Zacks reports. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $375.03. The stock had a trading volume of 559,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,223,851. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $381.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.82. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $299.93 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $382.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 32,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,111,601 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% 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.