Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $353.49 on Monday. 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 one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $320.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $349.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.