Tradewinds LLC. Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Tradewinds LLC. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.0% of Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 306.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 407,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,385,000 after purchasing an additional 307,479 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $97,042,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Caterpillar by 99.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 488,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,060,000 after purchasing an additional 244,253 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $381.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $241.81 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.