Capital Square LLC Sells 316 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital Square LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $8.74 on Monday, reaching $406.23. The company had a trading volume of 378,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,586,205. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $246.01 and a 1 year high of $418.50. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $386.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $356.00. The firm has a market cap of $196.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, 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 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 transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Company 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.