Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 74.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,320 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,682 shares during the quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $7,396,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 45,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430 shares during the period. 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 dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock traded up $4.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $353.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,605,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,326. The stock has a market cap of $166.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company's 50 day moving average is $320.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $349.91.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The firm's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar 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.