Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Kathmere Capital Management LLC

Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $381.67.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE CAT opened at $374.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $180.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $276.94 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.26.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.