Townsquare Capital LLC Has $10.73 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $403.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $390.02 and a 200-day moving average of $357.08. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $246.01 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $194.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.