Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases New Shares 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 position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,032 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 8.6% during the 4th 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 worth $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 1st 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $457.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $5.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $417.49. 446,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,728,954. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $417.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $363.12. 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 cap of $195.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $441.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis 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 Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.