Destination Wealth Management Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Destination Wealth Management boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $374.69.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $380.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $392.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $360.00. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $259.28 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 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.