Clarendon Private LLC Acquires Shares of 953 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clarendon Private LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $407.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.13 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $381.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $369.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.