Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Buys 1,365 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $2,165,899,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Caterpillar by 546.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Caterpillar by 425.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 761,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,738,000 after buying an additional 616,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36.9% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,777,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $848,177,000 after acquiring an additional 478,972 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $583.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $272.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $568.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.54. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $627.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at $4,874,576.40. This trade represents a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 61,895 shares of company stock valued at $34,007,516 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $616.00.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.