Schear Investment Advisers LLC Grows Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.6% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,582,000 after acquiring an additional 75,973 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,022,488,000 after acquiring an additional 165,358 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $702,431,000 after purchasing an additional 198,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,020,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $740,225,000 after purchasing an additional 119,326 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. This represents a 16.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE CAT opened at $384.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $185.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one year high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $381.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.07.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.