Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $94.87 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 84.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 244,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 111,727 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Caterpillar worth $94,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 28.1% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 294,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,247,000 after purchasing an additional 64,654 shares during the period. CFC Planning Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC now owns 5,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burford Brothers Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 3,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 71,823 shares of company stock valued at $34,477,790. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAT shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.94.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $562.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $263.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.84. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

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.