Lange Bob De Sells 14,638 Shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:CAT opened at $562.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $263.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $596.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $491.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.73.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1,060.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.59.

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.