Patten Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Patten Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional 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 approximately $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. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.19.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE CAT opened at $513.70 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $544.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $460.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $394.97. The firm has a market cap of $240.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 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 company had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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