71 West Capital Partners Acquires Shares of 2,400 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

71 West Capital Partners acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,375,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 108.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $222,120,000 after acquiring an additional 34,846 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:CAT opened at $933.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $429.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $356.96 and a one year high of $946.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $856.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $730.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,397,884.68. This trade represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,825 shares in the company, valued at $45,236,615.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 target price on Caterpillar and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Caterpillar from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $933.27.

Caterpillar Company 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.