Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Lowered to $455.00 at Truist Financial

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target reduced by Truist Financial from $471.00 to $455.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $380.85 on Thursday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $276.94 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $380.24 and a 200-day moving average of $366.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $183.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 301.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 9,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,291,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $523,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 13,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,588,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 2,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.