LifePlan Financial LLC Invests $290,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

LifePlan Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 879 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $396.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.83.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $385.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $181.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $342.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.93. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released 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). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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