Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,610,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the October 15th total of 6,150,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total transaction of $815,517.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.6% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% during the second quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 9,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $4.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $253.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,438,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,065,409. The business’s 50-day moving average is $259.40 and its 200 day moving average is $252.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.45. Caterpillar has a 52 week low of $204.04 and a 52 week high of $293.88. The company has a market cap of $128.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.09.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $5.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.77. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.69% and a return on equity of 56.29%. The company had revenue of $16.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $274.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $279.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Caterpillar from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $183.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.68.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.