L & S Advisors Inc Sells 4,444 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

L & S Advisors Inc cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,444 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $600.94.

Caterpillar Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $553.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $259.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $503.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.