Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Bought by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after buying an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,211,000 after buying an additional 150,533 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $450.28 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $367.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $452.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.Caterpillar’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.20.

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.