Empirical Finance LLC Grows Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CAT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 13.7% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 767 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,009,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 34,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,649,000 after buying an additional 16,395 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 3,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 266.9% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 265,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,376,000 after buying an additional 193,307 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.3 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $386.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $241.81 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $379.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.59.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

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.