Centaurus Financial Inc. Has $1.44 Million Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 60.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,165,899,000. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Caterpillar by 82.0% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 27,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after purchasing an additional 12,278 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the second quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased 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 buying an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Finally, Palmer Knight Co acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,884,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Caterpillar from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.16.

Caterpillar Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of CAT opened at $597.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $279.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $627.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $554.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,692,062.40. This represents a 15.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. This represents a 55.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.