Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 164,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.0% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $64,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAT. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $403.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $390.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $357.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $246.01 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.