Altus Wealth Group LLC Has $218,000 Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Altus Wealth Group LLC decreased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the second quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. GSB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Verum Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.60.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $527.41 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $391.52. The company has a market capitalization of $247.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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). 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 company posted $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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 given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

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.