Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Acquired by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Nwam LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 79.8% during the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the period. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $1,306,000. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.1% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Rea LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $623.10.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,729 shares of company stock valued at $31,084,308 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $647.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $302.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $652.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $585.21 and a 200-day moving average of $500.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.