Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

by · The Markets Daily

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report) by 26.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,722 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Caterpillar from $396.00 to $414.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.83.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Caterpillar

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $385.18 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $342.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $345.93. The company has a market cap of $181.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

About Caterpillar

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report).