Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Holdings Lifted by GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 101 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FWG Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $547.38 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $596.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $483.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.75.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Melius Research raised 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. Melius raised 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $502.00 to $557.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.50.

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.