Acadian Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 58.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 24,466 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Palmer Knight Co acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $5,884,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at about $427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of CAT opened at $573.22 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $501.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $596.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $268.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,846 shares of company stock valued at $38,241,493 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.59.

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.