PFG Advisors Has $4.99 Million Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

PFG Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 63.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,891 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors' holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.53.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CAT opened at $409.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $419.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $369.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $349.62.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. 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 earned $5.60 earnings per share. On average, research 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. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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