Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $1,050.00 to $1,155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC set a $980.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $877.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $900.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $982.92.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $799.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $821.64 and its 200 day moving average is $855.26. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $495.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,073.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $367.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.22 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 14.51%. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 27.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 32,401 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $808.98, for a total value of $26,211,760.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,555 shares in the company, valued at $27,954,303.90. The trade was a 48.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Friday Financial increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.9% in the third quarter. Friday Financial now owns 339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the third quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,315,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its position in Caterpillar by 109.7% in the third quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 1,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 11,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 85.1% in the third quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Its products are used in infrastructure development, construction, mining, energy production, transportation, agriculture, forestry, and other industrial applications.

The company markets equipment and related services through a worldwide network of independent dealers. Its operations are generally organized around Construction Industries, Resource Industries, and Energy & Transportation.