10Elms LLP Purchases Shares of 852 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

10Elms LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 852 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,586,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 857 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $375.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $343.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,936,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,638,094. 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 company has a market capitalization of $161.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $318.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.97.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

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.