GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $224,000. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $316,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $613,000. Advocate Group LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 17,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 70,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,499,000 after buying an additional 9,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $511.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $443.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $384.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.