Larson Financial Group LLC Acquires 62 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after buying an additional 781,111 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,168,000 after acquiring an additional 71,344 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.56.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares in the company, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE CAT opened at $363.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $348.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.32 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

About Caterpillar

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.