Smith Moore & CO. Buys 792 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Smith Moore & CO. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 7.4% during the second quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 10,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 30.1% during the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $2,165,899,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Argus upped their target price on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.32.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.5%

CAT stock opened at $576.76 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $530.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $444.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $596.21. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.17 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total value of $686,664.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $757,047.06. This trade represents a 47.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.