Whipplewood Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Whipplewood Advisors LLC decreased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 73.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at about $427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $612.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $527.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $466.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $401.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $544.99. The company has a market capitalization of $246.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46.

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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.72%.

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.