Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price lifted by Robert W. Baird from $395.00 to $422.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 price objective (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.17.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE CAT opened at $360.23 on Friday. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $333.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.