Vantus Wealth LLC Takes $771,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Vantus Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. KDT Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Williams Trading set a $825.00 price objective on Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,103.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $940.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $923.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,631,913.85. The trade was a 22.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares in the company, valued at $79,397,884.68. The trade was a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $865.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $398.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $339.50 and a twelve month high of $931.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $814.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $705.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.