Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $357.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $272.00. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.96% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 price objective (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $353.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $166.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $317.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.91.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $391,788,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Caterpillar by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,861 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by 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.