World Investment Advisors Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE CAT opened at $582.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $272.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $475.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $406.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% 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 worth $25,559,300 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $502.00 to $557.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.25.

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.