Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,544 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $34,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $2,184,364,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Caterpillar by 69.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $370.67.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $320.07. 1,555,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,624,245. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $152.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $317.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $356.53.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.