Family Firm Inc. Invests $42,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $27,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at $29,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $336.31.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $6.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $348.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,183,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.76 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The business had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.46%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $527,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $527,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,059,398. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.