Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 76,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,444,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in Caterpillar by 108.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $222,120,000 after acquiring an additional 34,846 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $1,002.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Caterpillar from $845.00 to $882.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,125.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,020.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $995.52.

Key Headlines Impacting Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: July durable-goods orders rose 1.1%, suggesting a manufacturing rebound that could support demand for Caterpillar’s construction, mining and industrial equipment. CAT was identified as one of several industrial stocks positioned to benefit. 4 Industrial Stocks to Grab on Robust Jump in Durable Goods Orders
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank reportedly expects stronger earnings for Caterpillar, adding to the constructive analyst outlook surrounding the company. Erste Group Bank Predicts Stronger Earnings for Caterpillar
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar’s power-generation business is benefiting from rising electricity demand tied to data centers and artificial intelligence. Recent coverage points to a first-ever quarterly sales total above $20 billion and identifies power generation as an increasingly important growth engine. Forget the Industry Labels: Chevron and Caterpillar Are Both Betting on the AI Power Boom
• Positive Sentiment: The company is applying its autonomous-mining expertise to industrial AI deployment, including field-support tools such as the Cat AI Assistant. Caterpillar also committed $100 million to AI and robotics workforce training, which could improve productivity and strengthen its technology positioning. Caterpillar Commits $100 Million to AI and Robotics Training
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s average brokerage recommendation remains bullish, but the coverage notes that sell-side ratings are often overly optimistic and may have limited predictive value for CAT’s performance. Is Caterpillar a Buy as Wall Street Analysts Look Optimistic?
• Negative Sentiment: At a high earnings multiple, Caterpillar is increasingly being valued like a technology-growth company. That raises the risk of pressure on the stock if AI-related growth, power-equipment demand or earnings forecasts fail to exceed expectations. How AI Power Demand Transformed Caterpillar into a High-Multiple Tech Play

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $797.72 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $889.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $838.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $366.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $410.52 and a one year high of $1,073.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.22 by $1.95. The firm had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.34 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 14.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 27.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

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.