Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Sells 639 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $17,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $531.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $446.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $386.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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 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 prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.47.

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.