Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Raised to $340.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price hoisted by analysts at TD Cowen from $338.00 to $340.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.52% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on CAT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.83.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $338.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $349.67 and a 200-day moving average of $300.30. The firm has a market cap of $168.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,370,000 after buying an additional 52,576 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently 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.