Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $540.00 to $612.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.58% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on CAT. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.40.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CAT opened at $524.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $394.14. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $544.99. The stock has a market cap of $245.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrow Financial Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.4% during the third quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 7,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,560,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 5.5% during the third quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 8,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,155,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 12.8% in the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.0% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 17,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.1% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 3,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.