Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,429 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,218 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $41,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after buying an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAT. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.83.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CAT stock traded up $3.30 on Friday, hitting $385.18. The stock had a trading volume of 4,445,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $340.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.48.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is presently 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.