Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Shares Down 0.8% – Here’s Why

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) dropped 0.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $385.55 and last traded at $387.30. Approximately 485,207 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,614,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $358.19.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $182.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $371.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $351.14.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.68%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Caterpillar by 5.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,022,488,000 after buying an additional 165,358 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 10.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $702,431,000 after buying an additional 198,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Caterpillar by 6.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,020,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $740,225,000 after buying an additional 119,326 shares during the last quarter. 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.