Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Buys 304 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $14,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6%

CAT opened at $360.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $169.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $325.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $348.98. 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 (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Six 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Company 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.