Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 68.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,249 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Compass Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

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

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.