Hall Laurie J Trustee Sells 830 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Hall Laurie J Trustee reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 30.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $427,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $471.97 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $473.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $426.53 and a 200 day moving average of $370.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $462.87.

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.