Rothschild & Co Redburn Issues Positive Forecast for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target boosted by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $420.00 to $650.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $730.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $633.35.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.6%

Caterpillar stock opened at $645.33 on Wednesday. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $655.68. The stock has a market cap of $302.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $591.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $507.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,729 shares of company stock worth $31,084,308 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 60 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.