Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $20.11 Million Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 47.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37,815 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $20,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,006,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.7% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,729 shares of company stock worth $31,084,308 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Barclays increased their price target 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. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $690.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.70.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1%

CAT stock opened at $636.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $644.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $582.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $498.31.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Caterpillar 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.