EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 404 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after buying an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 27,495.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $349,616,000 after buying an additional 1,178,168 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2,265.3% during the third quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after acquiring an additional 781,111 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $4.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $321.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,195,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,954,731. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $324.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.