Alta Advisers Ltd Raises Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alta Advisers Ltd grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 50.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $388.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $183.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.98. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.51 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.83.

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.

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