EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 55.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $395.03 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $255.81 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $190.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $392.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $359.16.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $372.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.