Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $10.89 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. This represents a 16.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock valued at $9,251,912. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $384.53 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $241.81 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $185.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $382.87 and a 200-day moving average of $354.71.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.