Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) shares rose 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement, AnalystRatingsNetwork.com reports. The stock traded as high as $62.45 and last traded at $60.94, with a volume of 11,043,354 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.32.

The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.47 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 20th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%.

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Vetr upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.63 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Citigroup Inc. restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, January 5th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $75.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 19th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.28.

A number of institutional investors have made changes to their positions in CAT. Park National increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Park National now owns 11,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. Gierl Augustine Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $1,670,000. McQueen, Ball & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $1,245,000. Community Bank & Trust of Waco, Texas acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,082,000. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management now owns 45,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 4,299 shares during the period.

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.21. The firm has a market cap of $35.56 billion and a PE ratio of 12.58.

Caterpillar Inc. is a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The Company principally operates through its three product segments: Resource Industries, Construction Industries, and Energy & Transportation. The Company also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. It offers its products under the brand names Caterpillar, CAT, design versions of CAT and Caterpillar, Electro-Motive, FG Wilson, MaK, MWM, Perkins, Progress Rail, SEM and Solar Turbines. It operates parts distribution centers at various locations, including Morton, Illinois; Arvin, California; Denver, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, among others. Its subsidiaries include Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Cat Financial and Caterpillar Product Services Corporation (NYSE:CAT), among others.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:CAT

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