Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 150 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.19.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8%

CAT opened at $527.12 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $466.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $401.50. The firm has a market cap of $246.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $544.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.