Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) Rating Reiterated by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus restated their hold rating on shares of Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in a research report sent to investors on Sunday, July 30th. They currently have a $125.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

CAT has been the subject of several other reports. Vetr raised Caterpillar from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $89.96 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Bank of America Corporation upgraded Caterpillar from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded Caterpillar to a buy rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Axiom Securities reiterated a sell rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG downgraded Caterpillar from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) traded up 0.8131% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $114.0599. The stock had a trading volume of 2,763,972 shares. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $79.93 and a 52 week high of $115.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.65. The company has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 637.2061 and a beta of 1.25.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 0.27%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar will post $5.24 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 2,080.00%.

In other Caterpillar news, insider Bradley M. Halverson sold 182,612 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.05, for a total transaction of $20,826,898.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Suzette M. Long sold 13,859 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.30, for a total transaction of $1,584,083.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,078,888.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 201,471 shares of company stock worth $22,979,332. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Caterpillar by 30.2% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $565,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $715,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 70.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Company Profile