Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 3,246 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Moors & Cabot Inc. lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,246 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1,060.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 89 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $625.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $785.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $730.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $700.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.53. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $789.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $695.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $587.94.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The firm had revenue of $19.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 972 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.20, for a total transaction of $742,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 824 shares in the company, valued at $629,700.80. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total transaction of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 79,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,574,954.83. The trade was a 22.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.