Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $552.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $258.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $506.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $596.21.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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 is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $600.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 300 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company 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.