Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 4,976 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,976 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.05% of Caterpillar worth $90,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,584 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 33.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares during the period. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $381.00.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,236 shares of company stock worth $12,102,371 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $361.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $380.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $371.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.