Ascent Group LLC Has $445,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $399.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $392.68 and its 200-day moving average is $358.68. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.78 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This trade represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.