Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Invests $101.19 Million in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 278,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $101,186,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Caterpillar as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.83.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $349.51. 1,580,357 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,640,279. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $317.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $354.61. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $164.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

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). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar 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.