Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Director David Maclennan Purchases 500 Shares

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $337.39 per share, for a total transaction of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

David Maclennan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 23rd, David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of Caterpillar stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $345.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $205.60 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $352.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.94.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,296,641,000 after purchasing an additional 129,216 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,029,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,583,372,000 after purchasing an additional 96,479 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,408,481,000 after buying an additional 179,908 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after buying an additional 111,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.