Davidson Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Davidson Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,167 shares during the period. Davidson Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 38.3% in the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,090,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $396.00 price objective (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.17.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $361.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,206,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,543,549. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $347.41. The stock has a market cap of $170.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

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). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The company's revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.43%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.