Dudley Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Dudley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 17.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.5% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 278,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,688,000 after buying 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

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $358.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was 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. In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,092 shares of company stock worth $4,059,378 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $408.21 on Friday. 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 $233.82 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $376.06 and a 200 day moving average of $352.50. The stock has a market capitalization 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 announced 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). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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