Rice Partnership LLC Has $7.46 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Rice Partnership LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 170.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,638 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for 1.0% of Rice Partnership LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,844,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Juno Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $877,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,226,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,517,000. Finally, Ticino Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,488,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus increased their price target on Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $1,043.00 to $1,218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $980.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 52,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,631,913.85. This trade represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:CAT opened at $864.72 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $405.46 and a 1 year high of $1,073.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $930.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $796.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $398.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The company had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

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.