Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Bought by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $568.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $578.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $478.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $410.02. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $596.21. The company has a market capitalization of $270.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

About Caterpillar

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.