Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $8.25 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Principle Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake 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 valued at $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Caterpillar by 11.2% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter worth about $427,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.1%

CAT stock opened at $513.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $544.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $460.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $394.97.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.19.

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.