Strs Ohio Takes $43.87 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 133,006 shares of Caterpillar Inc. for approximately $43.87 million, as reported in their recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Caterpillar, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $475 to $520.
• Insiders sold a total of 21,653 shares of Caterpillar stock in the last three months, indicating a 20% decrease in ownership by individual shareholders.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 133,006 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $43,865,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% in the first quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,010 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the first quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Summit X LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.2% in the first quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the first quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock traded up $3.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $439.17. 1,297,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,720,058. The company has a 50-day moving average of $420.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $366.13. The company has a market capitalization of $205.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $441.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $457.20.

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.