Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,202,000 after acquiring an additional 30,070 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 10,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $446.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $531.56. The company has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. 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 report on Monday, September 29th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.