Naviter Wealth LLC Boosts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Naviter Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 14.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after purchasing an additional 781,111 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,168,000 after acquiring an additional 71,344 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $316.88.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT traded up $7.03 on Monday, reaching $350.41. 1,045,741 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,478,258. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $350.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01.

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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

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.