Andrew R. J. Bonfield Sells 10,000 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $367.03. The company has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAT. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $280,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.