Provence Wealth Management Group Has $673,000 Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Provence Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,408,481,000 after purchasing an additional 179,908 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after buying an additional 111,384 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after acquiring an additional 781,111 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $336.75. 1,977,087 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,444. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $351.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $303.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.