Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target Cut to $495.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has revised Caterpillar's target stock price downward from $500.00 to $495.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating which suggests a potential upside of 13.76% from the last closing price.
• Other analysts have updated their ratings as well, with UBS upgrading Caterpillar from "sell" to "neutral" and increasing the target price to $357.00, while Barclays has raised their target price to $425.00.
• Caterpillar's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $4.72, which was below the consensus estimate of $4.88, despite reporting revenue of $16.57 billion, surpassing expectations.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Robert W. Baird from $500.00 to $495.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $455.53.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $3.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $415.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,327,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,767,494. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $441.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $413.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $360.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $194.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.99 EPS. The company's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.72%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,656,286,000 after buying an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after buying an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,165,899,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after buying an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.