Constitution Capital LLC Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Constitution Capital LLC grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 38.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CAT stock traded up $4.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $353.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,605,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,326. The company's fifty day moving average is $320.74 and its 200 day moving average is $349.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.