Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases 2,447 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 111.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew 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 valued at $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 a consensus target price of $372.92.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $2.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $360.46. The stock had a trading volume of 648,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $323.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $349.29. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $169.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's dividend 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.