Inspire Advisors LLC Acquires 1,507 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,723.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after buying an additional 1,196,861 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1,278.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,367,000 after buying an additional 408,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $434.07 on Friday. 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 P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $377.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $351.82. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $434.87.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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 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 prior year, the business posted $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.33.

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.