Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stock Holdings Boosted by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.6% in the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $612.00 in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.19.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $513.70 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $544.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $460.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $394.97.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last 90 days. Company 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.