Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Purchases New Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 278,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,186,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. LMR Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 139.2% during the 4th quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 3,060 shares during the last quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,701,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,934,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, KKM Financial LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $325.47 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $316.76 and a 200 day moving average of $354.96. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $153.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 price target (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.67.

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.