Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $710.03 and last traded at $702.84, with a volume of 3523750 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $690.91.

Caterpillar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and data-center demand — Caterpillar reported revenue and EPS above estimates, with Power & Energy sales up sharply as data-center buildouts drove demand for natural-gas turbines and backup power. That beat reinforces near-term earnings momentum. CAT Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raising price targets — Multiple firms (including Truist and Citi) bumped CAT targets and kept buy ratings, giving the stock fresh upward catalysts and validating the post-earnings narrative. Analyst Price Target Raises
• Positive Sentiment: Record backlog and multi-year growth visibility — Management cites a record ~$51B backlog and sees 5–7% annual sales through 2030, supported by planned capacity spend (higher 2026 capex) that could convert backlog into revenue over time. MarketBeat CAT Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Large shareholder returns narrative — Coverage highlighting the company’s strong free-cash-flow returns and sizable capital returns program can support investor sentiment. Forbes: Shareholder Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic tech partnership — ACI won a multi-year engagement to modernize Caterpillar’s digital infrastructure; operationally useful but unlikely to move near-term revenue much. ACI Partnership PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Product rollout — New compact 308CR mini-excavator announced; supports product-cycle narrative but is incremental to overall results. 308CR Mini-Excavator
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Two senior insiders disclosed sizable sales (multi-million-dollar disposals), reducing their stakes. While often routine, large insider sales can weigh on sentiment if interpreted as profit-taking at lofty valuations. Insider Sale Filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $729.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $805.00 price target on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $677.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $740.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $679.48.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.7%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $609.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $524.56. The company has a market cap of $328.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 10,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.45, for a total transaction of $7,261,081.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,151 shares in the company, valued at $28,001,197.95. This trade represents a 20.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,874,576.40. This represents a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 65,539 shares of company stock worth $40,339,032 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,165,899,000. Groupe la Francaise raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 82.0% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 27,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 12,278 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 155.9% in the 3rd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 47,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,014,000 after purchasing an additional 28,773 shares during the period. ZEGA Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 149.6% in the 3rd quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC now owns 4,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palmer Knight Co acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $5,884,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.