Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stock Position Cut by LexAurum Advisors LLC

LexAurum Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,738,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $394.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $192.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $362.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $350.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.76 and a twelve month high of $403.60.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar Company 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.