Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Chairman Donald Umpleby III Sells 17,166 Shares of Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Chairman Donald Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 465,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,289,088.35. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $471.77 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $485.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $427.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $371.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,656,286,000 after buying an additional 208,196 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after buying an additional 7,279,991 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,165,899,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after purchasing an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.33.

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.