Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stock Position Raised by HCR Wealth Advisors

HCR Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,165,899,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 546.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after purchasing an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 425.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 761,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,738,000 after purchasing an additional 616,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,586.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 433,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,340,000 after buying an additional 432,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Argus increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.16.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $590.11 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $627.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $556.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.04.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.