Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% during 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 purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $2,308,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $360.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $325.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $348.98. The stock has a market cap of $169.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.