Waverly Advisors LLC Has $73.86 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 116.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 56,087 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $73,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. United Bank increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 6.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,120,000 after purchasing an additional 34,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $1,125.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $980.57.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $889.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $928.88 and its 200-day moving average is $804.12. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $405.46 and a 52 week high of $1,073.46. The company has a market capitalization of $409.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,397,884.68. This trade represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total value of $4,982,055.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,789.82. This represents a 37.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.