Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CAT. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $360.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $174.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $382.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. 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 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value 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. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.