Meitav Investment House Ltd. Purchases 28,202 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,520 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,202 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $37,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 16.7% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,370,000 after buying an additional 52,576 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded down $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $371.98. 2,395,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,444,946. The company has a market capitalization of $185.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $341.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.16. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $274.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.89.

About Caterpillar

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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