Liberty One Investment Management LLC Buys 771 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,090,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $579,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,202,000 after purchasing an additional 30,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded down $2.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $405.73. 2,072,409 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,530,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $360.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $348.19. The company has a market capitalization of $191.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $404.64.

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.