Scotia Capital Inc. Purchases 6,647 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,647 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $30,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total transaction of $686,664.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,047.06. The trade was a 47.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was 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 directly owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 86,229 shares of company stock valued at $43,323,118 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.32.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $572.56 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $267.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $528.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $441.88. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Caterpillar 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.