Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 36,586.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 433,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 432,449 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Caterpillar worth $168,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.32.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $560.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $521.18 and a 200 day moving average of $438.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company’s 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, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given 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 was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

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.