Weaver Consulting Group Buys New Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Weaver Consulting Group acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 26,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,276,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $4,460,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Caterpillar by 7.1% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Caterpillar by 70.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 69,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,323,000 after purchasing an additional 28,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.1 %

CAT opened at $394.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $392.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $255.57 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

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.