Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s stock price fell 1.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $670.44 and last traded at $680.1490. 5,073,738 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 73% from the average session volume of 2,931,650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $688.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $640.00 to $790.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Williams Trading set a $825.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $677.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $805.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $730.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $316.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $700.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $591.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 79,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,574,954.83. The trade was a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 2,500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $718.93, for a total transaction of $1,797,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 35,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,222,221.19. This trade represents a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock valued at $94,327,990. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,572,681,000 after purchasing an additional 442,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,273,039,000 after purchasing an additional 385,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after buying an additional 94,524 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,438,408,000 after purchasing an additional 54,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Caterpillar by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,860,457,000 after buying an additional 928,974 shares during 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.