Sunbelt Securities Inc. Acquires 42 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $343.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $318.25 and a 200-day moving average of $352.97. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.