Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.6% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $513.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $240.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $460.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $394.97. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $544.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.19.

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.