Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by Mission Wealth Management LP

Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $2,184,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CAT shares. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6%

Caterpillar stock traded up $2.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $359.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,999,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,754. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $169.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $330.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $347.62.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.