RiverFront Investment Group LLC Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total value of $686,664.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued 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 Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $560.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $262.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $521.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results 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. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.