Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $625.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target hoisted by Argus from $460.00 to $625.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.32.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $550.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $518.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $435.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Palmer Knight Co acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.