Plato Investment Management Ltd Lowers Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 11.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,665 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $457.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $417.96 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $441.15. The company has a market cap of $195.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $418.27 and its 200 day moving average is $363.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar 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.