J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,118,000 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 added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at approximately $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Caterpillar by 546.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,297,000 after purchasing an additional 712,711 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $570.03 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21. The stock has a market cap of $267.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $481.17 and its 200 day moving average is $411.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.Caterpillar’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Tuesday, August 19th. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.81.

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.