Juno Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $877,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 170,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,742,000 after acquiring an additional 15,119 shares during the period. WP Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,807 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 543 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Management Nebraska boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Management Nebraska now owns 1,008 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird set a $805.00 price target on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $825.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $640.00 to $790.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Caterpillar from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $761.64.
View Our Latest Report on Caterpillar
Insider Activity at Caterpillar
In other news, insider Rodney Michael Shurman sold 2,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $759.61, for a total transaction of $1,730,391.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,117.23. This represents a 61.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $718.93, for a total transaction of $1,797,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 35,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,222,221.19. This trade represents a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,950 shares of company stock valued at $88,577,390. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
More Caterpillar News
Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:
Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1%
NYSE CAT opened at $808.96 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $738.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $641.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $295.18 and a fifty-two week high of $820.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.98, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.52.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 22.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Caterpillar Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is 32.09%.
Caterpillar Company Profile
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Free Report)
Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.
In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.
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