Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Purchased by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,434 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 264,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after purchasing an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at $757,047.06. This trade represents a 47.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,662 shares of company stock valued at $33,575,140. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CAT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.59.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $562.82 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $596.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $491.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $419.59. The company has a market cap of $263.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

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.