Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised its price target on Caterpillar to $832 from $817 and kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 6.84% upside from the prior close.
• Multiple analysts have boosted targets (Jefferies $900, Argus $820, BofA $825, Barclays $700), leaving the consensus as a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $751.23 and 16 Buy / 7 Hold / 1 Sell ratings.
• Caterpillar recently reported a quarterly EPS beat ($5.16 vs. $4.67 est.) and revenue of $19.13B (+17.9% YoY); the stock trades near $779 with a PE of 41.8, ~71% institutional ownership, and notable insider selling (~$88.6M last quarter).

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $817.00 to $832.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Oppenheimer's price target points to a potential upside of 6.84% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $625.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $825.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $677.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $735.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $751.23.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.0%

CAT stock opened at $778.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $362.35 billion, a PE ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.52. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $282.46 and a 12 month high of $798.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $630.00.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 972 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.20, for a total value of $742,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,700.80. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total value of $16,314,812.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 79,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $57,574,954.83. The trade was a 22.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 125,950 shares of company stock worth $88,577,390. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Caterpillar by 3,949.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,228,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,494,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,098,964 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,225,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1,851.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,830,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $873,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,631 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 573.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,504,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $861,947,000 after buying an additional 1,281,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,860,457,000 after purchasing an additional 928,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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