Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Architects LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 6,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in Caterpillar by 7.6% in the second quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 9,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 170,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,365,000 after acquiring an additional 45,522 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 190,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,088,000 after acquiring an additional 49,076 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $478.20.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was 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 have sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $511.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $443.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $384.49. The firm has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 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 firm 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 company posted $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 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.