Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.67.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE CAT opened at $366.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $172.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $335.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.24. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

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.