Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to “Hold”

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $350.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $293.00.

CAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $343.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $350.10 and its 200 day moving average is $300.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Caterpillar has a one year low of $204.04 and a one year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.