Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Rating Lowered by Erste Group Bank

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was downgraded by research analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $1,165.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research cut Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $900.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $980.57.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $889.23 on Monday. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $405.46 and a 1-year high of $1,073.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $928.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $805.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total value of $4,982,055.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,789.82. The trade was a 37.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 52,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,631,913.85. The trade was a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $26,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 220.0% in the fourth quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 440.0% in the second quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 27 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.