Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,005 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $191,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,586,000. Morton Community Bank increased its position in Caterpillar by 13.3% during the third quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 6.0% in the third quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI downgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $402.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $391.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $358.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $194.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.42 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.