BayBridge Capital Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

BayBridge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 123.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $356.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $327.10 and a 200-day moving average of $348.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CAT. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.92.

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.