Jason Kaiser Sells 2,425 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $348.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $370.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 111,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,572 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.9% in the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Waterway Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.4% in the third quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

About Caterpillar

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.