Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,386,626,000 after purchasing an additional 264,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after acquiring an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,416,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $467,150,000 after acquiring an additional 5,559 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $466.53.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6%

Caterpillar stock opened at $498.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $233.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.46. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $504.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $436.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar 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.