Sweeney & Michel LLC Acquires Shares of 1,585 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sweeney & Michel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,585 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $349.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 570,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,596,271. The company has a market cap of $164.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $319.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.