Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $32,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $2,799,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 28.6% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Caterpillar by 3.2% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 32,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,656,286,000 after buying an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.32.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $567.44 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $532.35 and a 200 day moving average of $446.34. The stock has a market cap of $265.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.22, for a total value of $686,664.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $757,047.06. This represents a 47.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,061 shares of company stock worth $36,234,966. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.