Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 1,902 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,902 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for 1.7% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1,060.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $730.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $623.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,730.42. The trade was a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. This represents a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,729 shares of company stock valued at $31,084,308. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $647.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $585.21 and a 200 day moving average of $500.31. The company has a market capitalization of $302.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $652.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.