Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 149.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 197,000 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned 0.07% of Caterpillar worth $108,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,090,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $579,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 18.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,202,000 after purchasing an additional 30,070 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 3.4% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 22,689 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,483,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.8% during the first quarter. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. 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. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. 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, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $419.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $432.61. 849,374 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,676,997. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $375.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $351.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $432.57. The company has a market cap of $203.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.38.

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 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.