Hardy Reed LLC Buys 112 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hardy Reed LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 27,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,732,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 7.5% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Caterpillar by 5.1% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.5% during the third quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $407.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $246.01 and a one year high of $418.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $356.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

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.