California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 840,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Caterpillar worth $326,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 49.2% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,874,576.40. This trade represents a 55.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.44, for a total transaction of $5,714,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,692,062.40. This represents a 15.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 79,061 shares of company stock valued at $41,949,366. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $603.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $607.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $542.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.32.

Caterpillar 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.