Violich Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,800 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Violich Capital Management Inc. acquired 1,800 shares of Caterpillar Inc. valued at approximately $699,000, highlighting growing interest in the stock among institutional investors.
• Caterpillar reported earnings of $4.72 per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, while revenue decreased by 0.7% year-over-year but exceeded consensus estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.51 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, signifying ongoing returns to shareholders despite recent earnings misses.

Violich Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $527.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $544.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $453.38 and a 200-day moving average of $390.93. The company has a market capitalization of $247.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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 prior year, the company earned $5.99 EPS. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.60.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business'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 sale, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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