Field & Main Bank Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Field & Main Bank boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.6% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $11,084,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $396.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $381.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.23. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.93 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.60.

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.