Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 1,748 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 18.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,202,000 after purchasing an additional 30,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grant Private Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 46.2% in the first quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE CAT opened at $491.67 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $443.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $384.49. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $511.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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 given 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 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 valued at $16,885,492 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. DA Davidson increased 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

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.