Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Buys 32,449 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2,277.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,449 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $13,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its stake 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 worth $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $384.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $185.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $354.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $241.81 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 16.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Barclays boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.33.

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.