JFS Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in 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 valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $1,089,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,347 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised 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, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $491.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $443.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $383.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $511.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the sale, the chairman owned 465,339 shares in the company, valued at $215,289,088.35. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over 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.