Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.3% during the second quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 3,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 91,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,457,000 after acquiring an additional 11,157 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $979,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $399.00 target price (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $336.31.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $4.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $356.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,974,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,679,620. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $382.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

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

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.