Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 111,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $37,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $376.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $336.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $4.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $356.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,974,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,679,620. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $174.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.55. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a $1.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.