MSH Capital Advisors LLC Buys 873 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

MSH Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. MSH Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,893,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 165,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Juno Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $877,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 73,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $860.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Caterpillar from $905.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Caterpillar from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $900.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $923.14.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,825 shares in the company, valued at $45,236,615.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total value of $14,928,254.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,210,388.80. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $880.23 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $336.24 and a 12 month high of $931.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $795.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $694.03. The company has a market cap of $405.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.63.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.