Diligent Investors LLC Has $1.43 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Diligent Investors LLC lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 price target (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1%

CAT opened at $349.64 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $319.90 and a 200-day moving average of $350.35. The stock has a market cap of $164.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

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.