Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,088 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.67% of Caterpillar worth $1,262,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,582,000 after purchasing an additional 75,973 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,022,488,000 after buying an additional 165,358 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 10.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $702,431,000 after acquiring an additional 198,123 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,020,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $740,225,000 after acquiring an additional 119,326 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE CAT opened at $379.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one year high of $418.50. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $384.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.22.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s 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.