Shepherd Street Advisors LLC Takes $1.39 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Shepherd Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,422 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,387,000. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.3% of Shepherd Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 108.5% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,120,000 after buying an additional 34,846 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,631,913.85. This represents a 22.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total value of $11,444,205.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,236,615.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price objective on Caterpillar and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. HSBC upped their target price on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $933.27.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $910.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $419.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $344.92 and a 1-year high of $931.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $814.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $705.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off?highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.