Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Analysts at Robert W. Baird have increased their price target for Caterpillar stock from $495 to $540, suggesting a potential upside of 20.54%.
• Caterpillar's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates, with a reported $4.72 compared to expectations of $4.88, although revenue surpassed estimates at $16.57 billion.
• Insider trading has occurred with Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III selling over 17,000 shares at an average price of $412.87, reflecting a 3.44% decrease in his ownership of the stock.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Robert W. Baird from $495.00 to $540.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

CAT has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $460.20.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $466.62. 5,066,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,369,601. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business's fifty day moving average is $425.21 and its 200 day moving average is $369.34. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $472.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake 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 worth $26,037,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $427,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 81.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.