Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Golden State Wealth Management LLC

Golden State Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 251 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the 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 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.94.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $569.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $596.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $414.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

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.