Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Rating Increased to Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CAT. Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $466.53.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $498.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $504.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $436.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.48. The stock has a market cap of $233.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,165,899,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $391,788,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 546.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.