Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Takes $394,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 220.0% during the fourth quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 60 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, May 8th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $960.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $923.14.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total value of $4,982,055.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,789.82. This represents a 37.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total transaction of $14,928,254.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,041 shares in the company, valued at $42,210,388.80. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of CAT opened at $887.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $807.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $701.11. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $339.50 and a twelve month high of $931.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.15, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.63.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The company had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.06%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.