AE Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after acquiring an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $568.86 per share, with a total value of $170,658.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,662 shares of company stock worth $33,575,140. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $562.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $491.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $419.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $596.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

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.