Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,042 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 2,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,897 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,051,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CAT stock traded down $0.56 on Thursday, hitting $348.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,752,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,600,760. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $319.90 and a 200 day moving average of $350.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $164.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.