Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $413,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 13,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Rollins Financial grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 6,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.35.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $5.40 on Monday, reaching $342.15. 1,653,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,509,182. The stock has a market cap of $167.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $352.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.27. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.60 and a 1-year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

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.