Alexis Investment Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alexis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000. Caterpillar makes up about 0.6% of Alexis Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $359.36.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $5.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $296.31. 1,063,918 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,633,786. The company has a market capitalization of $141.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $362.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 25.56%.

Caterpillar 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.