Insider Selling: Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) CAO Sells 1,200 Shares of Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) CAO William Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $569.64. 1,738,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,806,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $486.22 and its 200 day moving average is $414.84. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21. The company has a market capitalization of $266.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price target (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.94.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $2,165,899,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1,851.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,830,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $873,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,631 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $391,788,000. 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.