Caterpillar Inc. $CAT is Inspire Investing LLC’s Largest Position

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,195 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for about 2.1% of Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $19,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 9.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Caterpillar by 11.2% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of CAT opened at $491.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 3.04 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. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $511.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $443.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $383.88.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $478.20.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction 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 represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the sale, the chairman owned 465,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $215,289,088.35. This represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.