Capital International Investors Buys 244,253 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 99.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244,253 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.10% of Caterpillar worth $179,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 43,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,902,000 after purchasing an additional 8,767 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 101.0% during the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $169,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,863 shares of company stock worth $8,837,714 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAT shares. Raymond James started coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $350.48. 1,894,930 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,951,150. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $382.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $336.58 and its 200-day moving average is $335.67.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a $1.41 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar 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.