Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 157.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,974 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,414,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $800,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $361.64.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.3 %

Caterpillar stock traded up $3.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $293.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,716,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,779. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $329.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

Caterpillar 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.