Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Takes $226,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. has acquired 581 shares of Caterpillar Inc. valued at approximately $226,000, making it the 28th largest holding in their investment portfolio.
• Analysts have given Caterpillar a mixed outlook, with upgrades from Melius Research to a strong-buy rating and a price target of $500, while Bank of America and Robert W. Baird increase their price targets to $495 and $540 respectively.
• Caterpillar reported a missed earnings estimate of $4.72 per share, below the expected $4.88, while revenues of $16.57 billion surpassed analyst expectations of $16.14 billion in the last quarter.

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 581 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $226,000. Caterpillar comprises approximately 0.1% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,037,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at about $427,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $464.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded down $1.43 on Tuesday, hitting $470.67. 2,540,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,759,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $220.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $485.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $426.53 and its 200 day moving average is $370.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar 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.