New Hampshire Trust Acquires 245 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

New Hampshire Trust increased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $523,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 45,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,025,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 3.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,372,000 after acquiring an additional 3,852 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after acquiring an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE CAT opened at $386.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $380.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $367.29. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.