Fire Capital Management LLC Buys 328 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Fire Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises about 1.1% of Fire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Fire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% in the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the second quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $612.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.19.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:CAT opened at $524.86 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $544.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.46. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $468.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $403.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last three months. Corporate 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.