MJP Associates Inc. ADV Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 62.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Caterpillar by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,974,000 after acquiring an additional 5,903 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $1,300,000. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer upgraded 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.67.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $325.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $153.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $316.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $354.96. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.