Balentine LLC Buys 3,000 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Balentine LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 437.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. St. Louis Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth about $220,000. Ping Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth about $330,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.6% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 256,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,372 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 328,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $412.33.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 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 the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE CAT opened at $413.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $419.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $369.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $349.78.

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 net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.