Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 35.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.9% during the second quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.8% in the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, GSB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.32.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of CAT opened at $572.56 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $528.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $441.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $267.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during 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%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. 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.