Mason & Associates Inc Takes $201,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mason & Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded down $1.78 on Thursday, reaching $383.95. The company had a trading volume of 343,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,620,222. The business’s 50-day moving average is $366.90 and its 200 day moving average is $350.61. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $403.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.