Caterpillar Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CAT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 12th, 2023

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 53,369 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the average daily volume of 40,543 call options.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $220.60 on Wednesday. Caterpillar has a 1 year low of $160.60 and a 1 year high of $266.04. The firm has a market cap of $113.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.95 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $16.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.84 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.61% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $174.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $230.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.35.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 23,883 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.44, for a total transaction of $5,981,258.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,470,347.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 23,883 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.44, for a total value of $5,981,258.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,470,347.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $249.29 per share, for a total transaction of $99,716.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,616.61. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,953 shares of company stock worth $9,514,484 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 8.1% in the first quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 7,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,741,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Aries Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the first quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 18,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,148,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.7% in the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 1,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $3,703,000. 68.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Caterpillar

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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.