Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV Sells 354 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its position in Caterpillar by 38.5% during the second quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 1,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.5% during the second quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 22,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,835,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in Caterpillar by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $578.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $596.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $478.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $409.18. The company has a market capitalization of $270.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $568.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.