Seamount Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Seamount Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $466.53.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $495.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $438.25 and a 200 day moving average of $380.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $505.59.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar 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 sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total value of $7,941,849.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 465,339 shares in the company, valued at $215,289,088.35. This represents a 3.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over the last three months. 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.