7,868 Shares in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Bought by Petredis Investment Advisors LLC

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,868 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,595,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CAT traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $358.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,892,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,593,119. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.13. The stock has a market cap of $168.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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%. Caterpillar's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

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.