Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Sells 177 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hudson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.2% in the second quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Architects LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 6,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,333,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 7.6% in the second quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 9,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,756,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 36.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 170,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,365,000 after buying an additional 45,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 34.6% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 190,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,088,000 after buying an additional 49,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $488.13.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar 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 sale, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $505.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $511.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $444.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.71.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.