Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $395.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $309.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.83.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $349.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $164.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $317.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $354.32. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $760,000. Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.