NBC Securities Inc. Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 72,833.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,376 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,370 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $7,396,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 45,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $396.00 price objective (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE CAT traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $349.64. 1,616,260 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,608,544. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $319.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $350.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.