Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 434,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,826 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.09% of Caterpillar worth $168,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in 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 last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% in 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 last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

CAT opened at $491.67 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $511.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $443.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $383.88. The firm has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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 firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 approximately $3,605,586.40. This trade 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 sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. Company 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.