Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 14,338 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $60,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $11,084,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $204,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Bank of America upped their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $398.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $379.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $367.68. The company has a market capitalization of $192.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $286.10 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.