Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Caterpillar by 11.2% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the sale, the chairman owned 465,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,289,088.35. This represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $466.53.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6%

CAT stock opened at $498.48 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $233.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $436.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.06. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $504.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar 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.