Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Northern Financial Advisors Inc

Northern Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.5% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. GSB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.4% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $466.53.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $486.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $439.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $380.92. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $505.59. The stock has a market cap of $228.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend 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.