Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Shares Down 0.6%

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) were down 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $355.95 and last traded at $357.00. Approximately 371,383 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,452,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $356.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.06. The company has a market cap of $174.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,693,812.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 27,495.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $349,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,168 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2,265.3% during the third quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $305,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,570 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after purchasing an additional 781,111 shares during the period. 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.