D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $40,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,895 shares of company stock valued at $34,007,516. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.70.

Caterpillar Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of CAT opened at $598.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $574.03 and a 200 day moving average of $486.12. The company has a market cap of $279.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $627.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.