Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT)’s stock price has decreased by -2.92 compared to its previous closing price of 332.04. However, the company has seen a -5.84% decrease in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. finbold.com reported 2025-03-04 that President Donald Trump’s controversial trade tariffs officially took effect today, March 4, 2025, sending panic through the stock market as investors reacted negatively.
Is It Worth Investing in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) Right Now?
Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61x compared to its average ratio. CAT has 36-month beta value of 1.22. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 9 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 3 as “overweight,” 12 as “hold,” and 3 as “sell.”
The public float for CAT is 476.95M, and currently, short sellers hold a 2.06% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of CAT on March 04, 2025 was 2.26M shares.
CAT’s Market Performance
CAT stock saw a decrease of -5.84% in the past week, with a monthly decline of -13.21% and a quarterly a decrease of -20.15%. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.94%, and the volatility levels for the last 30 days are 2.26% for Caterpillar Inc (CAT). The simple moving average for the last 20 days is -7.81% for CAT stock, with a simple moving average of -10.81% for the last 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of CAT
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for CAT stocks, with UBS repeating the rating for CAT by listing it as a “Neutral.” The predicted price for CAT in the upcoming period, according to UBS is $385 based on the research report published on February 03, 2025 of the current year 2025.
Evercore ISI, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see CAT reach a price target of $365. The rating they have provided for CAT stocks is “In-line” according to the report published on January 13th, 2025.
Evercore ISI gave a rating of “Underperform” to CAT, setting the target price at $365 in the report published on November 13th of the previous year.
CAT Trading at -11.48% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought CAT to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -22.97% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 2.26%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.94%, as shares sank -10.70% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -14.08% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, CAT fell by -5.69%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by -9.86% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $349.68. In addition, Caterpillar Inc saw -11.14% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at CAT starting from Kaiser Jason, who sale 2,425 shares at the price of $354.70 back on Feb 18 ’25. After this action, Kaiser Jason now owns 6,275 shares of Caterpillar Inc, valued at $860,148 using the latest closing price.
Kaiser Jason, the Officer of Caterpillar Inc, proposed sale 2,425 shares at $354.70 during a trade that took place back on Feb 18 ’25, which means that Kaiser Jason is holding shares at $860,137 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for CAT
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.21 for the present operating margin
- 0.36 for the gross margin
The net margin for Caterpillar Inc stands at 0.17. The total capital return value is set at 0.24. Equity return is now at value 55.36, with 12.32 for asset returns.
Based on Caterpillar Inc (CAT), the company’s capital structure generated 0.66 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.31. The debt to equity ratio resting at 1.97. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 26.02.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 16.04 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 1.94. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 2.86. The receivables turnover for the company is 3.44for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.74. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.42.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Caterpillar Inc (CAT) has had a bad performance in recent times. Analysts have a bullish opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
