Clarius Group LLC Acquires 707 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clarius Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,485 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 707 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase 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 insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of CAT opened at $357.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $330.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.62.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

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.

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