Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Diversified LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Slagle Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.4% during the second quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 6,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $51,000. &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 85.2% during the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 10,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 4,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39.8% during the second quarter. Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. now owns 5,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,059,398 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. HSBC upped their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $399.00 price objective (up from $390.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $336.31.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $6.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $348.41. The company had a trading volume of 2,181,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,098. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $335.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a market capitalization of $170.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.46%.

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.