Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 3.8% during the second quarter, owning $22.4 million worth of shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Valeo Financial Advisors and Pacer Advisors, made significant increases in their holdings, indicating strong interest in Caterpillar stock.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Caterpillar's price target, with Melius setting a target of $500 and Jefferies increasing it to $570.

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,152 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $22,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after acquiring an additional 268,300 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 equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.19.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $524.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $394.14. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (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 net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Caterpillar

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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