Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 99.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 488,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244,253 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $179,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,000,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 27,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,102,000 after purchasing an additional 13,292 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 127.5% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 4,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $281,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,837,714. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.63.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $6.18 on Friday, hitting $350.48. 1,894,930 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,951,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $336.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $335.67. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The firm has a market cap of $171.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.61 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

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.