Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays upped their target price on Caterpillar from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Caterpillar to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Caterpillar from $228.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $217.26 on Thursday. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $160.60 and a 52-week high of $266.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $247.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.90. The firm has a market cap of $112.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.11.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.95 by ($0.09). Caterpillar had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 45.61%. The business had revenue of $16.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 15.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $249.29 per share, for a total transaction of $99,716.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $924,616.61. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $249.29 per share, for a total transaction of $99,716.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $924,616.61. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 6,070 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.22, for a total value of $1,524,905.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,265,646.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,984 shares of company stock worth $22,519,893. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,070,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,574,731,000 after purchasing an additional 291,836 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 130,632.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,343,859,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776,533 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,130,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,184,005,000 after purchasing an additional 110,026 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,390,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,770,496,000 after purchasing an additional 100,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,608,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,583,053,000 after purchasing an additional 969,222 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.02% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.