South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New $602,000 Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,660 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $309.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $370.67.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $1.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $321.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 841,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,620,922. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $153.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $317.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $356.78.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Company 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.