Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,088 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,459 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $25,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Oppenheimer raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.83.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $1.96 on Monday, hitting $386.67. 417,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,915. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. 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 market capitalization of $182.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $342.13 and its 200 day moving average is $345.93.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

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.