Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Citigroup from $370.00 to $420.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Citigroup's target price points to a potential upside of 12.69% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CAT. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.83.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $6.47 on Tuesday, hitting $372.70. The company had a trading volume of 846,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,528,097. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $335.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.24.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) 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). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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