Western Financial Corp CA Sells 5,285 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Western Financial Corp CA cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,285 shares during the quarter. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,457,153,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,276,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,120,529,000 after buying an additional 1,396,356 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $5,818,150,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $3,192,710,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $2,783,451,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 32,401 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $808.98, for a total transaction of $26,211,760.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 34,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,954,303.90. The trade was a 48.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. President Capital started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $999.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC set a $980.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $900.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $967.83.

Caterpillar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer maintained an “outperform” rating and still sees substantial upside, although it lowered its price target to $1,009 from $1,118. Oppenheimer Caterpillar price-target update
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar maintained its quarterly dividend at $1.63 per share, payable November 19 to shareholders of record October 19. The company has paid annual cash dividends since its founding and quarterly dividends since 1933. Caterpillar Inc. Maintains Dividend

Caterpillar Stock Down 3.3%

CAT opened at $747.18 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $510.21 and a 1-year high of $1,073.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $816.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $855.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $343.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.22 by $1.95. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 14.51%. The business had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.72 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 27.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Its products are used in infrastructure development, construction, mining, energy production, transportation, agriculture, forestry, and other industrial applications.

The company markets equipment and related services through a worldwide network of independent dealers. Its operations are generally organized around Construction Industries, Resource Industries, and Energy & Transportation.