Optas LLC Has $456,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Optas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 7,279,991 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% during the 1st 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 worth $1,386,626,000 after buying an additional 264,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 1st 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. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after buying an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $478.20.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $500.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $509.48. The firm has a market cap of $234.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $441.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.85.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

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 sale, 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 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 Caterpillar 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.