2,003 Shares in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Purchased by NWF Advisory Services Inc.

NWF Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $205,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% during the second quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,326,000 after buying an additional 1,527 shares during the last quarter. American Trust bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $318,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 60.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.16.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $590.11 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $627.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $556.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $464.04.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced 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 return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.