MQS Management LLC Invests $464,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after buying an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1,278.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,367,000 after acquiring an additional 408,678 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.64.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $405.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $360.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $191.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.38.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 29.43%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.