Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 329,864 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 329,864 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brookwood Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 16.3% in the second quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 2,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 83,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,172,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.19.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $524.86 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $468.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.15. The firm has a market cap of $245.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $544.99.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.