Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CAT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $225.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Cowen boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.00.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $217.26 on Thursday. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $160.60 and a 12-month high of $266.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $247.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.90. The stock has a market cap of $112.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.11.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $15.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 18,294 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total value of $4,555,206.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $249.29 per share, with a total value of $99,716.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,709 shares in the company, valued at $924,616.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 18,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total value of $4,555,206.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,984 shares of company stock valued at $22,519,893 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 286.7% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 68.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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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.