Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $4.99 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1,363.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,557 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,572,681,000 after acquiring an additional 442,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,273,039,000 after purchasing an additional 385,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after purchasing an additional 94,524 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,438,408,000 after purchasing an additional 54,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,860,457,000 after purchasing an additional 928,974 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total value 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total transaction of $4,982,055.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,789.82. The trade was a 37.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $889.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $409.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $405.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,073.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $928.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $805.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 32.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Caterpillar from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $980.57.

About Caterpillar

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.