Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Trading Up 3% – Still a Buy?

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s stock price was up 3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $712.00 and last traded at $701.3790. Approximately 2,979,978 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 2,936,481 shares. The stock had previously closed at $680.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. CICC Research initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Friday, February 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Caterpillar from $756.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $569.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $730.50.

Caterpillar Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $701.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $595.65. The company has a market capitalization of $326.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The company’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 39,138 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $681.08, for a total value of $26,656,109.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 43,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,524,818. The trade was a 47.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total value of $5,750,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,460 shares in the company, valued at $26,142,227.60. This represents a 18.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 108.5% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 361.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.