Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $23.81 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $23,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after acquiring an additional 264,054 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after acquiring an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after acquiring an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $457.20.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1%

CAT opened at $422.77 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $418.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $441.15. The firm has a market cap of $198.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.