Advisor OS LLC Sells 628 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Advisor OS LLC cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,334 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 628 shares during the quarter. Advisor OS LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Melius raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $396.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $419.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded up $4.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $434.07. 2,207,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,516,496. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $377.02 and a 200-day moving average of $351.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $434.87. The firm has a market cap of $204.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is presently 29.43%.

About Caterpillar

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.