Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys 1,963 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 23.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during 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. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. This represents 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 valued at $43,323,118. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $550.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $518.69 and a 200 day moving average of $435.07. The company has a market cap of $257.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. 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.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

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.