Private Wealth Asset Management LLC Trims Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up about 0.7% of Private Wealth Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% during 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 last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.47.

Caterpillar Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $446.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $386.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $531.56. The stock has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.