Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,429,416,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.9%

Caterpillar stock opened at $398.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.65.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $396.00 to $414.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is 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.