Corundum Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Corundum Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 187.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,685 shares during the quarter. Corundum Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 169,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,070,000 after purchasing an additional 36,775 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,551,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $399.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $337.38.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $8.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $345.72. 3,232,608 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,734,014. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.76 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $334.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.02. The company has a market cap of $169.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.