UBS Group Raises Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target to $355.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price target upped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $295.00 to $355.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sell” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 9.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.60.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $391.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $381.07 and a 200-day moving average of $369.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $189.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $297.45 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, 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 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after acquiring an additional 226,415 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.