Graham Capital Management L.P. Takes $1 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased 3,032 shares of Caterpillar Inc., valued at approximately $1,000,000, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.
• Caterpillar recently reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates, but had revenue of $16.57 billion, surpassing analyst expectations.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.51 per share, reflecting a positive change from previous amounts and a 1.5% yield.

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,032 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $391,788,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,958,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $457.20.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $423.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,843,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,741,062. The firm has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $441.15. 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's 50 day moving average price is $417.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $362.44.

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 return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, 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 transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% 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, 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.