Annex Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $348.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $320.27 and a 200 day moving average of $350.10. The company has a market cap of $164.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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. Six equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

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.