Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Boosts Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $53,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.4% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $446.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $386.71. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $531.56. The company has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.