OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its Caterpillar stake by 30.5% in the first quarter, buying 9,236 additional shares and ending with 39,497 shares worth about $28.0 million.
• Caterpillar reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.54 and revenue of $17.41 billion, both above estimates, with revenue up 22.2% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.63 per share from $1.51, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $980.57 price target.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 30.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,497 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,236 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $27,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. FreeGulliver LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth about $241,000. Van Diest Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $394,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,981,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 116.4% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 104,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,860,000 after purchasing an additional 56,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 24.1% in the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 1,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.6%

CAT opened at $889.23 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $405.46 and a 12-month high of $1,073.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $928.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $804.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The company had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The company's revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 32.45%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares in the company, valued at $480,180. This represents a 40.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $1,125.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Caterpillar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $980.57.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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