Grandfield & Dodd LLC Buys New Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Grandfield & Dodd LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its position 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $552.74 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $258.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.95.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAT. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price objective (up previously from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $600.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.