Caterpillar's stock rallies after disclosure of new $15 billion stock repurchase program

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. rallied 2.1% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the construction and mining equipment company said its board of directors had recently approved a new $15 billion stock repurchase program. Based on Monday's stock closing price of $207.19, the new buyback program could represent about 72.4 million shares, or 13.6% of the shares outstanding as of March 31. Caterpillar said in its first-quarter earnings report on April 28 that it repurchased $800 million worth of its shares during the quarter, as part of previous $10 billion repurchase program, which was authorized in July 2018 and had about $1.4 billion remaining as of March 31. Caterpillar's stock has gained 0.2% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 11.3%.

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