Vantage Point Financial LLC Has $2.37 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Vantage Point Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Caterpillar makes up 1.0% of Vantage Point Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Vantage Point Financial LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $500.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $509.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $441.97 and its 200-day moving average is $382.85.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.