Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Caterpillar, assigning a "sector perform" rating and a price target of $560.00, which indicates a potential upside of 6.68% from the current price.
• Caterpillar's stock has recently hit a high of $544.99, with analysts estimating a consensus target price of $518.19, reflecting a "Moderate Buy" rating across several analysts.
• Insider activity showed a significant sale, with Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III selling over 17,000 shares, constituting a 3.44% decrease in his ownership of the company.

Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "sector perform" rating and a $560.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective points to a potential upside of 6.68% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $612.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.19.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $524.95 on Wednesday. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $458.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $394.14.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Palmer Knight Co bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.

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