Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. Has $625,000 Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $248,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 297,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,876,000 after purchasing an additional 31,268 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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, May 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $419.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought 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 owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $434.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $204.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $434.87.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 29.43%.

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.