Secured Retirement Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Secured Retirement Advisors LLC cut its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 63.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,324 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,512 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,272 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 90,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares during the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. grew its position in Caterpillar by 167.3% during the 1st quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Seven equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $406.47.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.0%

CAT stock traded up $8.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $412.89. 3,240,946 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,519,851. The firm's 50 day moving average is $364.12 and its 200 day moving average is $348.60. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $194.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.38.

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 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 analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.