Profund Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $562.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.59.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,730.42. This represents a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,662 shares of company stock valued at $33,575,140. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $729.00 price objective (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.59.

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.