Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Position Cut by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,831 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $9,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 9.8% during the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.94.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $562.82 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $491.77 and its 200 day moving average is $417.84. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $596.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $263.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,730.42. This represents a 3.92% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,823 shares of company stock valued at $34,477,790. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.