Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Trims Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,652 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,656,286,000 after acquiring an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,165,899,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during 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 buying an additional 33,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $557.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on 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, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $616.00.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $583.12 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $627.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $564.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $272.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.44, for a total transaction of $5,714,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,692,062.40. This represents a 15.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,895 shares of company stock valued at $34,007,516. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.