Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 1,964 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,490 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,308,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $396.00 price target (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:CAT opened at $353.49 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $349.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders 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 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

About Caterpillar

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.