TIAA Trust National Association Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Aire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the second quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. GSB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 2nd 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. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $502.00 to $557.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $568.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $578.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $270.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $596.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $410.02.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

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.