Financial Partners Group LLC Acquires 800 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Financial Partners Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Caterpillar makes up approximately 3.3% of Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 272.4% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 730.8% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 110.9% during the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $274.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $183.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $323.00 to $297.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $287.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.68.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $4.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $253.07. 3,438,183 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,065,409. The company has a market cap of $128.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.09. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.04 and a 1 year high of $293.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.52.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $5.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.77. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.29% and a net margin of 13.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total value of $815,517.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.