Beacon Financial Group Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Beacon Financial Group increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,637,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $2,308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 price target (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $348.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $350.10.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

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.