Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.9% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 11.2% during 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 valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at about $427,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $513.70 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $544.99. The company has a market cap of $240.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $460.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $394.97.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share 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 given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CAT shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. 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.