By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report) by 409.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,396 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Caterpillar Price Performance
Shares of CAT stock traded up $11.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $362.82. 2,617,605 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,944,909. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $382.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.69. The firm has a market cap of $175.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.
Caterpillar Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CAT
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.
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.
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