TruWealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 914 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,231,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $4.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $353.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,605,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,720. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $320.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $349.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.92.

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.