Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Buys 639 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 70.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,297,000 after purchasing an additional 712,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after acquiring an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,662 shares of company stock worth $33,575,140. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CAT opened at $562.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $596.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.59.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.59.

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.