Sivia Capital Partners LLC Buys 725 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 72.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 112.2% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. now owns 3,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 1,153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Archvest Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Archvest Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.9%

CAT stock opened at $927.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $427.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.15, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.85 and a twelve month high of $936.71. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $823.77 and a 200-day moving average of $710.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results 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 company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 30.06%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 49,825 shares in the company, valued at $45,236,615.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total value of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,103.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $960.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $860.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $933.27.

About Caterpillar

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.