Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Ameriflex Group Inc.

Ameriflex Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 63.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,826 shares during the quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.4% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $498.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $233.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $436.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $378.48. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $504.48.

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). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $466.53.

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.