Abacus Planning Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $353.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $349.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share 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 given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

About Caterpillar

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.