Fayez Sarofim & Co Acquires 7,018 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 11.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 68,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,018 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $26,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sentinus LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its position in Caterpillar by 23.9% in the second quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 1,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 6.9% during the second quarter. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $1,328,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $595.99 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $544.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.00. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $607.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.32.

Caterpillar Company 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.