AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in Caterpillar by 11.2% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth about $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the first 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $527.41 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $544.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $390.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%.Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid 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 is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last three months. 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.