Axis Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Axis Wealth Partners LLC has purchased 534 shares of Caterpillar Inc. valued at approximately $207,000 in the second quarter.
• Caterpillar's stock is witnessing significant interest from institutional investors, with over 70.98% of the company’s stock being held by them.
• Research analysts have raised price targets for Caterpillar, with Barclays setting a new target of $425 and Bank of America increasing its target to $517, reflecting optimistic market sentiment.

Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 534 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after acquiring an additional 264,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,036,211,000 after purchasing an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday. Melius raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $464.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $471.77 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $485.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $427.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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