Fragasso Group Inc. Purchases 35 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. HSBC raised their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $327.13.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $327.82 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.76 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $343.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.10. The stock has a market cap of $160.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Caterpillar Company 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.