Brophy Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 187.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 3,685 shares during the period. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,753.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after buying an additional 14,483 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $374.69.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.7 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $388.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $187.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $259.12 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $393.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $359.52.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.