Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Acquires 1,400 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 103.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 546.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.19.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $524.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $468.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $403.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $544.99.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business 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%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.