Swedbank AB Boosts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 18.7% during the first quarter, holding a total of 334,218 shares valued at $110.225 million as of the latest report.
• Insider trading was noted as director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares for approximately $952,840, reducing her ownership by over 25%.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Caterpillar, with Barclays raising their target to $425 and Bank of America increasing it to $495, indicating positive market sentiment.

Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 334,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,590 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.07% of Caterpillar worth $110,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc grew its position in Caterpillar by 49.2% during the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 value of $7,088,152.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $457.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CAT opened at $431.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $441.15. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $420.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.16. The stock has a market cap of $201.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.41.

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

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