Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17, Zacks reports. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%.

Caterpillar Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE:CAT traded down $12.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $380.54. 1,140,876 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,140,827. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $299.93 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.60.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.