Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Has $1.91 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after buying an additional 1,488,813 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 27,495.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,616,000 after buying an additional 1,178,168 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,264,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $947,875,000 after buying an additional 529,420 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5,293.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 482,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,620,000 after buying an additional 473,416 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.63.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $328.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,238,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,710,353. The company’s fifty day moving average is $339.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $329.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.76 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis 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 currently 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,943.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.