Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,584 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $25,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total value of $686,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares in the company, valued at $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 57,185 shares of company stock worth $26,245,964 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.94.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $569.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $266.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $596.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.91.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

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.