Sivia Capital Partners LLC Purchases 58 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,353,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,296,641,000 after purchasing an additional 129,216 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 179,908 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,660,560,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $337.39 per share, for a total transaction of $168,695.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $3.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $330.90. 617,874 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,700,813. 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’s fifty day moving average is $339.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.08. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01. The stock has a market cap of $161.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

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

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.