RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up 1.2% of RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.2% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at approximately $427,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm’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 $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 4.1%

CAT stock opened at $547.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $256.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $596.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $483.50 and a 200-day moving average of $413.75.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price target on the stock. Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $502.00 to $557.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.50.

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.