Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 price objective (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6%

CAT stock opened at $359.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $169.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.71. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.