Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,165,899,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after acquiring an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 425.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 761,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $295,738,000 after purchasing an additional 616,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 36,586.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 433,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $168,340,000 after purchasing an additional 432,449 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,874,576.40. This trade represents a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 79,061 shares of company stock valued at $41,949,366. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Argus increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.16.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $597.88 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $627.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $279.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $554.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $462.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results 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. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio 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.