Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Director David Maclennan Purchases 300 Shares

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Director David Maclennan acquired 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $569.51 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 firm has a market cap of $266.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $488.91 and its 200 day moving average is $415.91. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Warner Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $305,000. Benningfield Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $239,000. ADE LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $520,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 15.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 500,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $236,164,000 after purchasing an additional 65,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.94.

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.