A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. Acquires 93 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 86.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up approximately 3.9% of A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $1.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $323.94. The company had a trading volume of 705,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,593,921. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $325.09. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $158.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Caterpillar declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a $1.41 dividend. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

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.