Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 33,467 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,467 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,295,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $427,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. This trade represents a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $550.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $257.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $596.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $518.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $435.87.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued 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 business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.32.

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.