Howe & Rusling Inc. Boosts Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,730.42. This represents a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE CAT opened at $553.04 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $514.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $432.71. 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 $258.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

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.