Clark & Stuart Inc Invests $1.30 Million in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clark & Stuart Inc acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000. Caterpillar comprises about 1.0% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, 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 directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This trade represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.8 %

CAT stock opened at $351.01 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $276.94 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $169.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $382.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $365.69.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors 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 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.