RFG Advisory LLC Buys 1,141 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. GSB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.47.

Caterpillar Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $531.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $446.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $386.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction 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 represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.