Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,202,000 after purchasing an additional 30,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grant Private Wealth Management Inc increased its position in Caterpillar by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $491.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $511.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $443.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.49.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.