Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 93.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 119,968 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,511 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 30,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $264,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value 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. 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $371.63 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $338.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $175.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

About Caterpillar

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.