Kovack Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 7.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.4% in the first quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 46,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price target (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.25.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $582.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $475.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.43. The firm has a market cap of $272.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $596.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.