The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target to $408.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its target price boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $357.00 to $408.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CAT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and raised their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $357.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $345.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.21. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $204.04 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.33 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 272.4% during the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 730.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.