Weaver Consulting Group Takes Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Weaver Consulting Group acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Caterpillar by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $214,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 218,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,982,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 17,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,913,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,534,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Argus raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.32.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $560.74 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $514.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $432.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. This trade represents a 55.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. Corporate 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.