Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stake Lessened by Searle & CO.

Searle & CO. cut its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for 2.2% of Searle & CO.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. This trade represents a 3.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 71,823 shares of company stock worth $34,477,790 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.59.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2%

Caterpillar stock opened at $562.82 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $596.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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