Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Bought by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4%

Caterpillar stock opened at $500.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $441.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $509.48.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.