Reliant Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Reliant Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $527.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $246.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $466.75 and its 200-day moving average is $401.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $544.99.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.