Advisor Resource Council Takes $755,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,338 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 1,238 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. BBR Partners LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 184 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $375.17.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $360.23. 6,260,908 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,533,048. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $169.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $333.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.44.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.