Jefferies Financial Group Increases Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target to $475.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $455.00 to $475.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $372.19.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.0 %

CAT stock opened at $395.03 on Friday. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $255.81 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $190.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 1.97 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $392.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $359.16.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in 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.