Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Buys 569 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAT. GSB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 465,339 shares in the company, valued at $215,289,088.35. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CAT shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $443.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $511.50. The stock has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.