NorthRock Partners LLC Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

NorthRock Partners LLC reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 3,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 7,128 shares of company stock valued at $2,506,748 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $358.19.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock traded up $7.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $384.30. 278,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,609,093. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $372.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $351.45. The firm has a market cap of $186.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.57 and a 1-year high of $403.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.