Caterpillar Inc. $CAT is SlateStone Wealth LLC’s 10th Largest Position

SlateStone Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,393 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up about 1.6% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $18,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,656,286,000 after purchasing an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,165,899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,553,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,695,757,000 after buying an additional 609,023 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,295,432,000 after acquiring an additional 33,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 4.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,282,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,274,385,000 after acquiring an additional 140,784 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $702.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $328.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.58. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $723.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $614.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $526.79.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The company had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.14 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $740.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $569.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $690.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total transaction of $5,750,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,142,227.60. This represents a 18.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 10,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.45, for a total transaction of $7,261,081.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,151 shares in the company, valued at $28,001,197.95. This represents a 20.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 120,747 shares of company stock worth $78,324,008. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Caterpillar

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.