Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $336.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $160.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $358.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $371.98. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.