AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases Shares of 17,876 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired 17,876 shares of Caterpillar Inc. for approximately $6,221,000 during the first quarter, indicating growing investment interest in the company.
• Analysts have upgraded Caterpillar's stock rating, with Evercore ISI setting a new price objective at $476.00 and Bank of America increasing their target from $460.00 to $495.00.
• Caterpillar's recent quarterly earnings report showed revenue of $16.57 billion despite a 0.7% drop compared to the same quarter last year, with an EPS of $4.72 falling short of expectations.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,876 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $6,221,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Compass Financial Services Inc grew its position in Caterpillar by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $457.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $4.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $435.62. 2,231,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,360,946. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $420.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $441.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $204.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Company 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.