Rice Partnership LLC Has $7.46 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Rice Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 170.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,638 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.0% of Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 108.5% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.5% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,125.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $980.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $1,020.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $980.57.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $864.72 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $405.46 and a twelve month high of $1,073.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $930.07 and a 200-day moving average of $796.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $398.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total value of $14,928,254.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,210,388.80. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total value of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $480,180. This trade represents a 40.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company 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.