Truist Financial Lowers Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Price Target to $438.00

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $455.00 to $438.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.92% from the company’s current price.

CAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $379.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $362.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $174.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $380.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.21. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 21.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,936 shares of company stock valued at $11,558,971. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 33.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 21.5% in the third quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.