Delta Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Delta Financial Advisors LLC increased its Caterpillar stake by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 1,142 shares and bringing its total to 3,448 shares valued at about $1.98 million.
• Caterpillar’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $5.54 versus the $4.65 estimate and revenue of $17.42 billion, up 22.2% from a year earlier. Analysts now expect the company to post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating at Moderate Buy; the stock also recently traded near $880 after a strong run, while insiders have been selling shares in recent months.

Delta Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 49.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 3,949.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,228,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,494,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,098,964 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 573.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,504,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $861,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,087 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,553,930 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,695,757,000 after purchasing an additional 609,023 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,375,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,176,870,000 after purchasing an additional 464,036 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,572,681,000 after buying an additional 442,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $960.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $860.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $923.14.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $880.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $405.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.63. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $791.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $690.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $336.24 and a 52-week high of $931.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,236,615.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 100,551 shares of company stock valued at $91,170,351 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar’s Power & Energy business is being highlighted as a major growth opportunity, with rising backlog, capacity expansion, and demand from AI data centers supporting the company’s longer-term targets. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage is reinforcing Caterpillar as a “power infrastructure play,” helped by a strategic framework agreement tied to up to 2.1 gigawatts of incremental power-generation assets, which suggests additional demand beyond its core construction and mining equipment businesses. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar was also mentioned among the stocks helping drive a strong Dow rally, indicating broader investor demand for the name during today’s market advance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Caterpillar was included in a hedge-fund stock screen, which may reflect institutional interest, but the item did not add a clear new catalyst by itself. Article Title

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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