Fermata Advisors LLC Has $783,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 29.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 544 shares during the quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 1,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $349.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

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.