Sivia Capital Partners LLC Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Sivia Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 17.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $450.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $210.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $367.22. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $452.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CAT shares. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.20.

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.