Morgan Stanley Downgrades Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) to Underweight

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $332.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $349.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 14.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CAT. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $355.50.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $388.05 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $360.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $349.61. Caterpillar has a 1 year low of $223.76 and a 1 year high of $403.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $189.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $400,000. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at about $498,000. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% during the first quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 8,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,266,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 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.