Bank of Montreal Can Has $352.35 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 900,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,577 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $352,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $8.74 during trading on Monday, reaching $406.23. 378,321 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,586,205. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $246.01 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $386.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $356.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

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.