Tripletail Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,567 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000. Caterpillar makes up about 1.0% of Tripletail Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,017,000. AXA S.A. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 20.9% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 170,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,309,000 after buying an additional 29,523 shares in the last quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $1,331,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 68,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,702,000 after acquiring an additional 7,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinus LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $595.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $278.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $607.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $544.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.00.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.32.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 79,061 shares of company stock valued at $41,949,366. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.