Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Purchases 291 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson upped their price target on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $568.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $578.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.91 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $596.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $408.38.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the 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. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.