Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $570.00 to $670.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CAT. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Caterpillar from $502.00 to $557.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $729.00 target price (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $568.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $578.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $478.42 and its 200 day moving average is $408.38. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $596.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.91 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,656,286,000 after buying an additional 208,196 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,165,899,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,626,000 after acquiring an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,295,432,000 after acquiring an additional 33,467 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.