Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 503 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after buying an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,626,000 after buying an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after purchasing an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday. Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.60.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $527.41 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $544.99. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $453.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $390.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.