Brophy Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $850,000. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $225,000. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $1,118,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.9% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 106.5% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $388.44 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $393.01 and its 200-day moving average is $359.52. The stock has a market cap of $187.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.12 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $374.69.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar 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.