Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Upgraded to “Neutral” at UBS Group

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $357.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $272.00. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CAT. Citigroup increased 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. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.50.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $349.51 on Friday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $164.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. 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 fifty day moving average of $317.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.32.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, 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 transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.