Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 1,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $491.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $511.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $443.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $384.17. The company has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.