LSV Asset Management Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

LSV Asset Management cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $36,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. UBS Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. HSBC upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted 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, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $600.94.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $546.75 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $511.40 and a 200 day moving average of $431.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $596.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio 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.