Armis Advisers LLC Invests $549,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Armis Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,512 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $2.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $351.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,290,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,633,777. The firm has a market cap of $165.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.77.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought 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 now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $375.33.

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.