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Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $164.00 to $161.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Caterpillar traded as low as $177.68 and last traded at $178.53, with a volume of 202142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.83.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on CAT. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $250.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.50.

In other news, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 2,757 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.13, for a total value of $590,356.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 5,004 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $1,175,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,757 shares in the company, valued at $647,895. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,577 shares of company stock worth $2,663,056 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 358.5% during the 4th quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 7,375 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 8,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Stonnington Group LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the first quarter. Stonnington Group LLC now owns 17,545 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,791,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,769,205 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $365,767,000 after buying an additional 106,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,666 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $212.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.54. The stock has a market cap of $95.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.94.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.22. Caterpillar had a net margin of 12.33% and a return on equity of 35.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 20th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 19th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.22%.

Caterpillar Company Profile (NYSE:CAT)

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, backhoe loaders, compactors, cold planers, compact track and multi-terrain loaders, excavators, motorgraders, pipelayers, road reclaimers, site prep tractors, skid steer loaders, telehandlers, and utility vehicles; mini, small, medium, and large excavators; compact, small, and medium wheel loaders; track-type tractors and loaders; and wheel excavators.

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