Cypress Capital Group Lowers Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Cypress Capital Group decreased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 32.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 18.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,202,000 after acquiring an additional 30,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grant Private Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 46.2% in the first quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $443.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $511.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during 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 business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

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.