Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Cut to Underperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from an in-line rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $365.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $321.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CAT. Truist Financial raised their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $387.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $378.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $241.81 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.