597 Shares in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Bought by Smith Thornton Advisors LLC

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 3.5% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 278,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,688,000 after purchasing an additional 9,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $358.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,092 shares of company stock valued at $4,059,378 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $408.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $233.82 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $376.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.50. The firm has a market cap of $197.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

About Caterpillar

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.