By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.
Caterpillar Stock Performance
CAT opened at $390.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $381.27 and a 200 day moving average of $370.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $297.45 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Caterpillar Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.60.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Caterpillar
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Caterpillar Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Caterpillar and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.