City National Bank of Florida MSD Purchases Shares of 899 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

City National Bank of Florida MSD acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. West Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,637,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $342.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $161.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $318.06 and its 200-day moving average is $353.46. 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 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.33.

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.