Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 49.2% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $33,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Friday. 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 one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $511.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $443.23 and its 200 day moving average is $384.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.