Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stock Position Reduced by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 4.3%, selling 938 shares, and now holds 20,666 shares valued at approximately $8 million.
• Caterpillar Inc. reported $4.72 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations by $0.16, and had a revenue of $16.57 billion, slightly above analyst forecasts.
• Analysts have mixed outlooks on Caterpillar, with multiple firms adjusting their price targets; notable changes include a downgrade by Oppenheimer from $493 to $480 and an upgrade by Evercore ISI from "in-line" to "outperform".

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,666 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 938 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 49.2% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $460.20.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $466.62. 5,066,694 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,369,601. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $369.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $472.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $218.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.