VestGen Investment Management Sells 101 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

VestGen Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. VestGen Investment Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 426.3% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,151,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 1.3% during the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,783,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,874,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.19.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $522.13 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $464.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $399.24.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.

Caterpillar Company 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.