Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,296,641,000 after purchasing an additional 129,216 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,583,372,000 after buying an additional 96,479 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,408,481,000 after buying an additional 179,908 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $1,660,560,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,264,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $947,875,000 after acquiring an additional 529,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CAT. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $336.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,059,398. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $6.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $348.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,183,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,098. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.76 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $170.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.