Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,547 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,889 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $16,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $375.33.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.3%

CAT stock traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $352.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,277,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,936. 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 capitalization of $166.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

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.