Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,380,000 shares, a decline of 11.3% from the June 15th total of 11,700,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 24,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,837,714 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.8% during the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Atwater Malick LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 42,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,287,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded down $2.75 on Wednesday, reaching $357.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,060,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,715,381. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The company has a market cap of $175.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 21.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

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.