Obermeyer Wealth Partners Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 196.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,969 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners' holdings in Caterpillar were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

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 price 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. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $419.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $431.17. 584,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,675,103. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $375.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $351.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $431.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 29.43%.

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.