Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,547 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $540.00 to $612.00 in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.40.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $531.80 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $544.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $455.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $393.23.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Caterpillar Company 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.