Cherokee Insurance Co Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Cherokee Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,417,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bailard Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 19,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,685,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 15.3% in the second quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 18.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 1,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its position in Caterpillar by 17.4% in the second quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.59.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total value 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. The trade was a 47.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,846 shares of company stock valued at $38,241,493. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.9%

CAT opened at $573.22 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $501.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $596.21. The stock has a market cap of $268.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.