Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Holdings Increased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 425.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 761,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 616,739 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.16% of Caterpillar worth $295,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $2,165,899,000. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palmer Knight Co acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $5,884,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.32.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $598.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $539.70 and a 200-day moving average of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $602.72. The company has a market cap of $280.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.