Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,794 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired 2,794 shares of Caterpillar Inc., valued at approximately $1,085,000, in the second quarter as part of its investment strategy.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Caterpillar, with Bank of America setting a new target of $594.00 and Robert W. Baird increasing their target to $540.00, indicating strong confidence in the company's performance.
• Caterpillar recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.51 per share, which will be paid on November 20, representing an annual yield of 1.1% based on its current payout ratio.

Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,085,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 9.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.60.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $527.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $247.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $453.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $390.93. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $544.99.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. The company's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. 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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