RiverFront Investment Group LLC Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,626,000 after purchasing an additional 264,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,295,432,000 after purchasing an additional 33,467 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after purchasing an additional 150,533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. This trade represents a 55.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $560.05 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $521.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $438.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21. The stock has a market cap of $262.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

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.